


Fictober 2019

by LemonCupcakes



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Aromantic, Aromantic Asexual Charlie Weasley, Asexuality, Canon Compliant, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Halloween, Hogwarts, Hogwarts Seventh Year, Leaky Cauldron, Mentions of Violence, Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon, Quidditch, Weasley Family, lycanthropy, mentions of an injury, mild anxiety
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2020-11-24 07:55:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 22,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20904233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LemonCupcakes/pseuds/LemonCupcakes
Summary: A collection of canon-compliant Harry Potter drabbles and one-shots, based on prompts from the Fictober19 list. Can be read in any order.Written for the Fictober19 event.





	1. It will be fun, trust me

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to put all the one-shots for Fictober19 into one story, that will be updated daily throughout the month of October.  
This is my first time participating in something like this - it's just an attempt to push myself through writer's block and write something every day. Wish me luck!  
Feedback is always appreciated <3

**Prompt number: 1**

“It will be fun, trust me.”

—

James held his hand over Lily’s eyes as he led her across the field. 

She giggled a little, unsure what was happening. “What are you – what is this?” she asked. 

No answer.

“Come on, you’ve been all weird and secretive all day!” she said, smiling.

“It’s a surprise, Lily,” James said, in a voice that would have been appropriate explaining something to a kindergartner.

She rolled her eyes in resignation. “Fine,” she said. “Are we there yet, at least?”

“Almost…” he stopped abruptly. Lily almost tripped over his feet. 

“Okay, don’t open your eyes yet!” he said, moving away.

She sighed. This was starting to get ridiculous. She nodded anyway. No harm in indulging his love for surprises.

James walked back towards her, and turned her around. “Open your eyes,” he whispered into her ear.

She turned her head slowly, taking in the sight in front of her. 

Two huge rollercoasters were right in front of them. Next to them was an enormous Ferris wheel, surrounded by various red and white stands, selling candyfloss and waffles. In the distance, Lily could make out several carousels, sweet shops and laughing toddlers.

She immediately started shaking her head. 

“No. No way.”

“Come on,” James said, whining a little bit. “This is our first October out of Hogwarts! We have to celebrate being able to go somewhere other than Hogsmeade!” 

“No!” Lily repeated, not yet ready to lose this argument. “Don’t you know me well enough by now to know my notorious motion sickness?” she asked, an eyebrow raised. 

“We just have to go on a rollercoaster once, okay?” James gave in. “And afterwards we’ll eat all the candyfloss you want. It will be fun, trust me.”

Lily tried to hold his gaze while keeping her deadpan expression on her face, she really did, but eventually she couldn’t help but smile.

“Fine,” she said reluctantly, eyes softening. “You’re lucky I love you.” 

“Yes!” James did a victorious fist pump, and pulled her in for a quick kiss. 

“Come on!” he grabbed her hand to pull her towards the roller coasters, but let go immediately, breaking out into a run. 

“Wait! That’s not fair!” she shouted, sprinting after him. James may have been Quidditch captain at Hogwarts, but she was no bad runner herself, and she caught up with him just as they reached the roller coaster. 

“Come on, idiot,” she said, eyes sparkling. She put her head on his shoulder and they got into the queue. “Happy anniversary.”


	2. Just follow me, I know the area

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt number 2: “Just follow me, I know the area.”
> 
> Dean receives unexpected help.
> 
> Day 2 of the Fictober19 event.

Dean Thomas cursed under his breath as he jumped down from the fence, landing awkwardly on the street below. Pain immediately shot through his ankle, but he clenched his teeth and kept running. 

How could he have been so stupid? 

He looked over his shoulder as he ducked into an unknown alleyway on the outskirts of Manchester, and stopped to catch his breath. No one seemed to be following him anymore. He had lost them.

Taking deep breaths, Dean leaned against the wall, rolling his sock down to look at his ankle. Not broken, thankfully. 

Dean had been on the run for the past month, now. Ever since the first of September, when he had made an active decision not to board the Express, he had struggled to stay undetected. 

Writing a letter to his family had been the hardest part. 

He had never sat them down and told the about the war in detail, but they had all been aware for the past few years that something was wrong in the Wizarding World. He knew he had been quiet, less forthcoming with stories about his time at school. Last year, he had even stopped taking them with him on his trips to Diagon Alley. Even his little brothers and sisters had noticed that he was different than usual. 

But he didn’t want them to wake up one day and just find him gone, even if that was the best thing he could do to protect them. So he had written them a letter, or tried to, anyway, to explain what he could. Tell them that he wasn’t coming back. 

His heart ached at the thought of his siblings, his mother, his stepdad, worrying about him or wondering where he was. He hoped the protective spells he had managed to cast over the house would be enough to keep them all safe. 

Shaking his head to clear it from these thoughts, he gritted his teeth and kept walking, limping slightly. He had to get into the forest before nightfall. He had already spent way too much time in this city.

“Woah, are you alright?” A voice startled him. He looked up to see a man, probably in his mid-fifties, with fair hair and a friendly face. 

Dean nodded silently, watching him suspiciously. 

“You look like you’re injured,” the man said, in a softer tone of voice. “Come on, I can help you walk to where you need to be.” 

Dean was still unsure why this person was being so nice to him, but he accepted the help for now, leaning on the man’s arm for support. 

“Who are you?” Dean asked, looking around. It didn’t _seem _to be a trap. Not as far as Dean could tell, anyway.

“My name is Ted Tonks,” the man replied, smiling a little. “I have a daughter, she’s a few years older than you. Dora. She prefers to go by Tonks, though.”

They walked in silence for a few moments. Dean frowned, thinking.

“Tonks?” That name seemed familiar to Dean. Wasn’t there… that auror from last year? 

“Is she an auror by any chance?” 

“Yes! She was stationed at Hogsmeade last year. You might have met her? You look to be about Hogwarts age.”

“I think so,” Dean said, still on edge. 

“I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable just now,” Ted said, glancing over at Dean. “You just looked like you needed help.”

Dean looked back, meeting the man’s kind eyes. Would a Death Eater go to all this trouble, make up these stories, just to catch Dean? Surely a Death Eater would have just attacked him straight away?

Dean looked back to the ground, and was silent for a bit. 

They had just reached the edge of the village when Dean finally spoke. 

“Thank you,” he said, his voice hesitant. “I’m Dean.”

“Nice to meet you, Dean,” Ted said. “Are you heading to the forest too?”

“That was my plan, at least,” he replied. “I’m from London, I don’t know my way around here very well.”

“Are you alone?”

Dean frowned, getting his guard up. Who _was _this person?

“I’m travelling with two other people,” Ted explained. “They’re a wizard and a goblin, both on the run too. I’m muggle-born, and really didn’t feel like signing the registry, so we all thought we’d be safer in a group than by ourselves.

Muggle-born? Dean glanced at Ted again. He certainly dressed like he knew his way around muggle clothing. Most Death Eaters wouldn’t know how to do that… right? Most Death Eaters wouldn’t go out of their way to call themselves muggle-born either. Slowly, Dean started to breathe a bit easier.

They were crossing an abandoned road, leaving the village behind them, when Ted stopped them, gesturing for Dean to sit down on a fallen log nearby.

“I can look at your foot, if you want? My wife is a better healer than I am, but I did learn a few tricks from her.”

Dean looked at him. He seemed sincere enough, and his ankle was really starting to hurt. Breathing deeply, he decided to accept the help and rolled down his sock, showing a swollen ankle.

“I don’t think it’s broken,” Dean offered. “I just landed badly on it.”

Ted examined the injury, pulling a face at the swelling. “Yes, I think you’re right,” he said finally. “It looks like a bad sprain.”

Ted rummaged through his pockets for a while, then sighed in disappointment. “I left all my bandages and potions at the campsite.”

Dean frowned. “Campsite?”

“It’s about ten minutes away. You’re welcome to join us for now, if you want? Just for some medicine and food for tonight, at least.”

Dean considered this briefly, and shrugged, letting a small smile onto his face. Ted had had ample opportunity to murder him, he reasoned. If he had been planning to murder Dean, surely he would have done it by now, right?

“Alright,” he said. Food, medicine and sleep sounded good. What could be the harm? 

“Which way? What are the others like?”

“You’ll like them when you meet them, I’m sure. Have you spent much time with goblins before?”

Dean shook his head.

“He’ll take some getting used to, then. But don’t worry, he’s on our side, and quite friendly when you get to know him,” Ted said, leading them slightly to the left. “Just follow me, I know the area.”


	3. Now? Now you listen to me?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt number 3: “Now? Now you listen to me?”
> 
> Bill and Charlie decorate the Burrow for Halloween. Or try to, at least.
> 
> Day 3 of the Fictober19 event.

“Mum?” Bill’s voice came pleadingly into the kitchen. “Can me and Charlie do the decorations for Halloween? We can make paper chains, and skeletons, and put pumpkins everywhere, and all kinds of stuff!” 

Molly, who had been just about to start cooking, turned around to look at her oldest sons. She raised an eyebrow at them.

“If you’re sure…” she said. “Just tidy up after yourselves, boys, I don’t want you making a mess in the living room.”

They nodded eagerly, already on their way out.

“And ask your father to help you if you need to reach any high places!” she shouted after them.

“I’m going to Hogwarts next year, mum, I can do it by myself! I’m old enough now!” Bill shouted back, running after his brother.

Molly closed her eyes. What had she just allowed to happen?

“Okay, maybe this was a bad idea…” Charlie elbowed Bill a few hours later, nodding to the pumpkin in the top corner of the wall. It was wobbling precariously on a shelf, about to fall down. That wasn’t the only thing. The orange paper chains that they had spent hours on were starting come off the ceiling, and the floor was covered in paint and bits of paper.

“Oh no!” Bill said, thinking fast, unable to take his eyes off the impending pumpkin catastrophe. “Quick, help! What do we do?” 

They looked at each other, then back at the pumpkin. 

Bill, in a flash of inspiration, pulled a chair over and climbed on it, trying to reach the top corner of the shelf. In his eagerness to fix the situation, he had clearly miscalculated the distance, and his hand bumped against the shelf from underneath, making the situation worse. Bill quickly jumped back off the chair, and got a safe distance away before the pumpkin could decide to fall on his head. 

The two brothers looked at each other, seeing the same idea reflected in both of their faces. 

“Mum!” they shouted simultaneously.

A loud sigh could be heard from the kitchen as Molly came into the living room, hands full of the flour she had been using for her pumpkin pie. “What is it, boys…?” she asked, the question dying in her throat as she took in the state of the room.

“Can you help, please?” Charlie asked, giving her his most charming smile. “What do we do to fix this?”

“Now?” Molly asked, incredulously. “Now you listen to me?” 

She took one look at her sons’ matching expressions and sighed. “Fine,” she gave in. “Bill, you’re taller than your brother. You go ahead and fix the paper chains. Charlie, you clean up some of that paper on the floor.”

Neither of them moved, both of their eyes moving rapidly between her and the wobbling pumpkin.

“Go on,” she urged, shaking her head. She turned towards the shelf, just in time to see the pumpkin abandon its position up there and fall. 

Bill let out a short scream behind her.

Pointing her wand at the pumpkin, she wordlessly brought it to a stop, and then lowered it gently towards the ground.

Smiling victoriously, she spun back around to face her sons. They cheered loudly and applauded. Molly took a little bow, smiling and shaking her head. 

A baby started crying in the other room. 

“I think you’ve woken Ron up,” she said, a hand on her hip. 

“Oh,” Charlie said, looking down at the ground.

“Come on. Let’s see how your brother is doing,” she told them, ushering them out of the room. They both cheered up and walked into the corridor with her.

“Don’t think you’re getting out of cleaning that mess up though, you two!” Molly added sternly. “Honestly, just ask for help next time.”


	4. I know you didn't ask for this

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt number 4: “I know you didn’t ask for this.”
> 
> Luna and Mr. Ollivander are imprisoned in the dungeons of Malfoy manor.
> 
> Day 4 of the Fictober19 event.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: All the parts of the conversation you recognise are taken from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 23: Malfoy Manor, written by J.K. Rowling.

It was dark. 

Dark and damp and cold, all the time, and Luna didn’t know how her eyes would ever be able to adjust to daylight again. If she did ever get out, that was.

Twice a day the door would open, and someone would come in with food and water. Checking if they were still alive. If they were still there.

In the beginning, when she was still awake and full of energy and angry, Luna had told herself that she wouldn’t give up, no matter what. She had told herself to stay strong, stay positive, that someone was going to come to save her any minute now. Her Daddy must have told someone she was missing, must be working with the Order on getting her out of here.

Now, days or weeks or months later - she had lost count a while ago - she wasn’t so sure anymore. 

With every passing day, it was more and more difficult to keep a positive mindset, to keep hope and faith. 

Most of her days were spent sitting silently on the ground, staring at nothing, thinking of nothing. 

Sometimes she would think of Neville and Ginny, wondering how they were doing at Hogwarts. How the DA was doing. She would think of Harry, and Ron, and Hermione, on their secret missions to Merlin knew where, and hoped that they were alright. Hoped they were even still alive.

But most of the time she thought of nothing.

Her only hope in this nightmare was Mr Ollivander. He had been here so much longer than Luna has, gone through the worst things imaginable, and was still here. Still kind, caring, brave.

He was very frail, and his health had suffered a lot during the months he had spent here, in Malfoy Manor, but he was still so strong. Without him, Luna genuinely didn’t know if she would even have her sanity at this point. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, his voice hoarse. “I know you didn’t ask for this.”

Luna’s heart broke a little bit.

“You didn’t ask for this either,” she breathed. She forced a smile onto her face, like she had so many other times before. “Don’t worry about me, Mr Ollivander. “I’m alright. We’ll get out of here soon, just wait and see.” 

The words sounded hollow even to her own ears, but what else could she do, other than repeat them, day after day?

Suddenly, raised voices suddenly came through the ceiling, interrupting their conversation. Someone was shouting. Something was happening.

For the first time in a long time, genuine hope fluttered in Luna’s chest. 

She exchanged an excited glance with Mr Ollivander as they heard several people coming down the stairs. 

The door was flung open, and Luna was briefly blinded by the bright light as she heard people being flung into the room. The door slammed shut again, and darkness returned. 

A terrible, long, drawn-out scream could be heard from directly above. 

Luna started to panic again. What was going on? Who was being tortured?

“HERMIONE!” someone screamed. “HERMIONE!” 

Oh no. Oh please, Merlin, no. 

A terribly familiar voice tried to speak: “Be quiet! Shut up, Ron, we need to work out a way -”

“HERMIONE! HERMIONE!”

“We need a plan, stop yelling - we need to get these ropes off -”

Her heart was almost in her throat as Luna plucked up her courage and whispered: “Harry? Ron? Is that you?”

She moved closer to try and see, and asked again. “Harry? Ron?”

_“Luna?” _came the answer. 

“Yes, it’s me! Oh, no, I didn’t want you to be caught!” 

“Luna, can you help us get these ropes off?” Harry asked. 

The familiar energy that she thought she had lost forever returned to her. She could help. She could do something. 

Luna set off to find the nail to get their ropes off.


	5. I might just kiss you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt number 5: "I might just kiss you."
> 
> Neville visits Hannah at her new job at the Leaky cauldron.
> 
> Day 5 of the Fictober19 event.

Neville took one last nervous look into the mirror and ran his hand through his hair before walking out the door. 

He had always liked the Leaky Cauldron, but today was the first time in a few years that he had actually decided to go there. Yesterday, Neville had found out through Ginny that Hannah Abbott was the new bartender. She was working at the pub part-time, helping out Tom and earning some extra money while she was figuring out what to do now that the war was over.

The war had been over for 5 months, and Neville himself still had no idea. 

He had never even thought about what would happen, after the war. Of course he had hoped, of course he had dreamed, but he had never allowed himself to truly, seriously consider the possibility of “after”. Maybe he would talk to Professor Sprout sometime – she might be able to give him advice. 

But that was all for the future. Tonight, Neville had something different to worry about. 

He apparated into central London, arriving just outside the pub. The drizzle still hadn’t stopped, but Neville didn’t mind. He actually quite liked rain – the sound of it, the feeling, the way it helped plants grow.

Neville frowned at himself. Why was he thinking about rain right now? Shaking his head, he took a deep breath to steady himself and walked into the pub. 

He was lucky – Hannah was working today. Her long blonde hair was pulled up in a messy bun to keep from falling into her face. Neville sighed, resigned to his fate. She was so beautiful. He shot her a smile across the crowded room and looked around for an empty seat, but had no such luck. Every table was occupied. Summer might have been over for a while, which reduced the number of students passing through to Diagon Alley, but that didn’t stop patrons from frequenting the place, bringing friends, families and colleagues to the pub. 

Neville suppressed an anxious sigh. He had been hoping to avoid direct confrontation with her, but now it seemed like he had no choice but to sit at one of the bar stools. 

This was fine. 

This was absolutely fine. 

They were friends! They’d known each other since they were eleven. They’d done all their Herbology projects together – they’d fought in a war together, for Merlin’s sake! This was fine. 

Before Neville knew it, he had reached the bar. This room was honestly much too small - who had designed this place? It should take more than twenty steps to get from the door to the bar, in Neville’s opinion.

Suddenly Hannah was there. 

“Hi, Neville!” she said chirpily. “Can I get anything for you?”

“A butterbeer, please,” Neville said, clearing his throat.

As she turned around to get his drink, Neville mentally kicked himself. Why did he have to be so awkward?!

Hannah handed him his butterbeer with a smile and turned back to a group of customers, who were arguing about something Neville hadn’t been paying attention to. 

“If Puddlemere United don’t change something about their strategy, they’ll be –“

“Just shut up and accept the fact that the Holyhead Harpies are the better team!”

“Never! Puddlemere has all the potential to win –“

“Gentlemen,” Hannah interrupted, “You ordered some mead?” She placed the drinks in front of them, leaving them to their discussion.

As they started arguing over who had ordered what drink, Hannah made eye contact with Neville and discreetly rolled her eyes, a tiny smirk on her face. Neville grinned back. 

* * *

A few hours later, the bar was slowly emptying out as the customers started leaving in small groups. 

Neville calmly watched the proceedings, quietly nursing his third butterbeer of the night. 

He and Hannah had been talking for the past few hours, about everything and nothing, during the breaks between customers. He knew he should probably feel guilty for keeping her from her work, but he was honestly too giddy to care much. He hadn’t needed to worry - even though they hadn’t seen each other in a few months, it felt like they were still the same people who had worked on Herbology projects together all those years ago. The awkwardness from earlier had completely disappeared as they started catching up.

Still, watching everyone leave, Neville couldn’t deny it was getting late. 

He should probably head home too, he thought to himself. He had stayed here far longer than he had planned, and Hannah was working and cleaning everything up anyway. He didn’t want to disturb her. 

Just as Neville started to stand up, though, Hannah looked up from the chairs she was moving around, saw what he was doing and jogged over to him. Her cheeks were flushed, and she looked at him with wide eyes. “You’re leaving?” she asked, sounding strangely disappointed. 

“Yeah,” Neville said hesitantly, shifting from one foot to the other. “Y- you’re busy, right? I don’t want to bother you.”

“Oh,” Hannah said. “Yeah, um…” she bit her lip, staring awkwardly at the ground. She lifted her eyes to meet his, a new-found courage in them. “I’m almost finished, though. D’you want to help me move the last couple of chairs?”

“Okay,” Neville nodded immediately. He followed her over to the last table in the corner of the bar. 

Hannah lifted her wand and cast a non-verbal cleaning spell over the surface of the table. She took a chair and put it away, leaving Neville to do the same. They turned back around to face each other, and Neville noticed they were standing a lot closer than they were before. 

Neville suddenly forgot how to breathe. 

He couldn’t tear his eyes away from hers. He felt like his feet were stuck to the ground. Hannah’s wide, blue eyes were looking at his face with a strange intensity, and it seemed like they were searching for something. 

“I might just kiss you,” she whispered, barely audible.

Neville’s heart pounded. He nodded almost imperceptibly, not trusting his voice to speak. 

They both leaned in slowly, inch by inch, neither wanting to rush this. Neville saw Hannah close her eyes. Neville closed his eyes too, reached out his hand to cup her face, and their lips met in a soft kiss. 

They pulled away at the same time, matching smiles growing on their faces. 

Neville bit his lip in an attempt to stop himself from grinning. He couldn’t think about anything but the rush of happiness flooding his senses. He had never felt anything like this before.

“Um…” he said.

They were both staring at each other.

“See you tomorrow?” Hannah asked hopefully.

“Yeah, definitely,” Neville nodded eagerly. “See you tomorrow.”


	6. Yes, I'm aware. Your point?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt number 6: “Yes, I’m aware. Your point?”
> 
> Remus has a talk with his friends.
> 
> Day 6 of Fictober 2019.

Pain. That was the first thing that came to Remus’ consciousness as he slowly drifted in and out of sleep. He was used to the pain; over the years he had learned to expect it. His entire body hurt, as always. What he hadn’t been expecting, however, was the searing pain on his shoulder. 

Remus reluctantly opened his eyes, blinking in protest at the bright light flooding the hospital wing. 

Had he dislocated a shoulder? Surely Madam Pomfrey would have fixed that. 

He braced himself, plucked up his courage and looked. A thick, white bandage was wrapped around his shoulder. 

He must have scratched himself badly last night.

Remus had been noticing for a while now that his transformations were getting worse. Before Hogwarts, he had always gotten away with only a couple of bruises, maybe a small scratch here and there. Injuries you might expect from a playful puppy. Now, coming into his second year, it was rare to wake up after a full moon without at least some serious injury. Two moons ago, he had even broken a couple of ribs. 

When he asked Madam Pomfrey about this, she just gave a frustratingly vague answer about puberty. Remus couldn’t blame her for not knowing more; this was new territory for her too. No one really knew much about this. No one dared to get close enough to werewolves to actually research them. The only books Remus had been able to find had used words like “hunt”, “kill”, and “dangerous creature”. Not very helpful. 

Remus sat up, leaning back on the pillows propped up against the headboard. He pulled the curtains surrounding his bed for privacy back a bit, peeking out to see if he could spot Madam Pomfrey. 

She immediately came over to his bed. “Mr Lupin!” she scolded. “You should really be resting.”

“Can’t I go to the dormitory?” he asked, already knowing it was pointless to argue. Still, worth a try. Now that the shock of the pain in his shoulder had subsided, he hardly noticed it anymore. He was just eager to get back to the common room and finish his schoolwork. Thank God the October moon fell on a Sunday this year, or he’d have missed all the morning classes already. “I can rest there just as well, right?”

“No, Mr Lupin,” she said firmly. “You need peace and quiet, and you won’t get that with those rowdy friends of yours.”

Remus sighed, feigning disappointment. He had this exact conversation with Madam Pomfrey every month; it was like a well-rehearsed play at this point.

“Lie back down for now - I don’t like the look of that shoulder,” she said, narrowing her eyes at the bandage.

Remus obeyed, watching her as she walked back to the supply closet to look for another potion. 

* * *

A few hours later, Remus entered the common room, suppressing a yawn. Despite everything he had told Madam Pomfrey about feeling perfectly fine and energetic, he couldn’t deny he was pretty tired. He dragged his feet up the stairs and opened the door to his dorm, looking forward to a short nap.

He stopped abruptly as he saw Sirius, James and Peter sitting on their beds, deep in a discussion.

They stopped talking as soon as they noticed him. 

“Oh, you’re back already?” James said awkwardly.

Remus frowned. “Yes? I’m never away for more than a day. Shouldn’t you know that by now? I’ve visited my mother loads of times.”

He walked past them and sat down on the bed. Well, there was certainly no chance for a nap now.

“What are you guys doing?” he looked back and forth between his friends, taking in their shifty facial expressions. “Planning a prank?”

Sirius cleared his throat, looking uncharacteristically nervous. “Remus…” he said.

“We - I mean, we were thinking -” Peter tried to explain.

Remus raised an eyebrow. “Yes?” He was starting to feel nervous too.

James took charge of the conversation. “Remus, we just wanted to ask you something. We’ve noticed different… things for the past year and we have a theory. A…”

“You’ve been missing a lot since we’ve known you,” Sirius put in.

Remus swallowed. Where was this going?

“You always disappear for one night, about once a month. And, um, we couldn’t help but notice your… scars?” James said, not taking his eyes of Remus’ face. He looked nervous but strangely determined, like he’d already planned this conversation. “Well, I’ll just get it over with. Are you a werewolf?”

Silence.

“Not that there’s anything wrong with it if you are!” James said quickly.

Remus’ heart beat faster and faster as he took in his friends’ faces. Could he even call them his friends anymore? What would they do once he confirmed their suspicions? Would they go to McGonagall? The rest of the school? The newspaper? Their parents?!

He hoped they would at least let him keep his wand if he got expelled. Maybe if he promised not to use it to do any magic until he was seventeen? 

He stood up quickly, a feeling of panic threatening to choke him. He pulled his trunk out from under his bed and grabbed any clothes he could find, throwing them haphazardly inside. 

“What are you doing?” Sirius asked.

“Packing,” Remus answered, opening his chest of drawers now and pulling socks and underwear out. 

“But you don’t need to leave!” James said loudly.

He turned around to face them. He breathed in deeply, trying to ignore his frantically beating heart. “I can’t stay here if everyone knows,” he tried to explain. 

“We won’t tell anyone,” Peter said suddenly. 

Remus almost laughed in their faces. “What do you mean you won’t tell anyone? You just found out the guy you’ve been sharing your dorm with for the past year turn into a bloodthirsty creature every month!”

“So?” Sirius asked, one eyebrow raised. “The other 27 days of the month you’re our friend and fellow marauder, Remus Lupin. Unless I misunderstood something about the way werewolves work?”

Remus sighed. “No,” he said.

“Exactly. And I’m assuming you’re locked away in a safe place when you transform? Otherwise there’s no way Dumbledore would have allowed you to be here. He does know about this, right?”

“Yes, he does,” Remus said. He could already feel himself calm down. Still, he had to make them all understand what was happening here. “But I’m dangerous! Werewolves are classified as XXXXX creatures!”

“Yes, I’m aware. Your point?”

Remus sighed. Sirius was being deliberately obtuse. 

“My point -” he laughed in disbelief. A little calmer, he continued. “My point is that if anyone finds out, I could be expelled. Worse, I could be thrown into Azkaban!”

“But we already went over this! We’re not going to tell anyone,” Sirius repeated Peter’s words. He looked Remus in the eyes, silently imploring him to sit back down. 

Remus did.

“We only noticed because you’re our best friend and we see you every day,” James said. “I’m sure all of our classmates don’t even notice all the times you’ve been away. Why should they? They’re busy with their own lives.”

Remus conceded that point. Abruptly coming to a decision, he looked each of his friends in the eyes, his face serious, and said: “This isn’t a game. This isn’t some silly children’s thing. This is real, this is important. If I’m going to trust you with this, I need to be able to  _ trust  _ you.”

All three of them nodded eagerly, reflecting the same serious expressions.

“And when you say you won’t tell anyone, I mean  _ anyone.  _ No one can know about me. Dumbledore, McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey are the only people who know.”

They nodded again.

Remus let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. He nodded. “Okay,” he said.

“Okay,” they repeated. 

Sirius and James looked at each other and grinned, and Remus smiled back.

  
  



	7. No, and that's final

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt number 7: “No, and that’s final.”
> 
> Fred, George and Harry have been banned from the Quidditch team, much to Angelina's despair.
> 
> Day 7 of the Fictober19 event.

McGonagall’s eyes were hard as she stared at Angelina across her desk. 

Her patience had clearly been wearing thin the longer Angelina spent detailing her plan. Still, Angelina had faced down McGonagall’s disapproving stare before, and would not be dissuaded so easily.

“But if you organised a house-wide protest with us, I’m sure that -”

“Miss Johnson! Be serious! Believe me, a victory in the upcoming match would be a great triumph for Gryffindor, but I will not bend the rules for you. Professor Umbridge’s decision was clear.”

“But -” Angelina tried again, one last desperate attempt to bargain with her.

“Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley and Mr. Weasley have been banned from the Quidditch team, and there is nothing we can do about that now. You will just have to hold tryouts to fill their positions and get back in the running.”

“Please, Professor McGonagall!”

“I said no, Johnson! No, and that’s final.”

* * *

Angelina Johnson walked out of McGonagall’s office. She wasn’t quite brave enough to slam the door, but she did shut it very firmly on her way out, just to drive home her point.

Fred and George were waiting outside. They jumped up as soon as they saw her.

“And?” George asked eagerly. “What did she say?”

“No,” Angelina grumbled. She kicked her foot against the wall to let some of her feelings out.

“What?” Fred was outraged. “She can’t just do that!”

“I think that’s the point,” Angelina said. “She can’t do anything about this. It’s not like she can just override Umbridge’s decision.”

“But shouldn’t she be on our side? She hates Umbridge just as much as we do!” Fred said. 

George hushed his brother immediately. “Quiet! She has spies everywhere now,” he said, looking over his shoulder exaggeratedly. 

Fred rolled his eyes. “Not like there’s anything left that she could punish us with.”

“Fair point.” 

Angelina suppressed the urge to laugh. “Guys! Focus,” she said. “What do we do about this?” 

The three of them looked at each other in silence. No one had any ideas.

Angelina sighed in frustration. “Ugh, I wish Oliver were still here,” she said, leaning against the wall. “He would know exactly what to do now. He always knew what to say to McGonagall to persuade her.”

“Anyway, we’re leaving soon, too,” George said glumly, moving so that they were leaning next to each other. “Not much point in staging a massive protest now, when there are only a few months of school left.” 

Angelina met George’s eyes and quickly looked away again. She didn’t want to think about that yet - what would happen after school. Would they stay in touch? Would they be too busy with the war and their lives and just… _ everything _to bother, and then awkwardly meet again at a ten year reunion? Angelina swallowed. She really didn’t want that to happen.

Fred snapped his fingers, shaking Angelina out of it.

She blinked a few times and looked up, seeing Fred staring at the two of them in disbelief. 

“Hey! I’m disappointed in you guys. Where’s your fighting spirit?” he asked. “Come on. We’re not giving up this easily.” 

Angelina nodded slowly, and started grinning, cheering up again. She stood up straight, clapped her hands, and said: “Come on, then, let’s go to the Common Room.” 

She pushed her braids out of her eyes as she looked up and down the corridor. “Not like we can have a war meeting out here - who knows who might be listening!”

As they headed down the corridor together, George quietly started talking again. “Okay, so obviously we can’t get back on the team, but we’ll help you scout out the most promising people -”

“I mean, obviously no one one can replace us, but -” Fred interrupted in a loud whisper.

“Yes, I’m quite aware, Fred, why do you think I was so angry you got kicked off?” Angelina retorted, laughing. Her face immediately got serious again. “We’ll have to think about the new seeker too, since Harry got banned,” she continued thoughtfully. “Damn it, why did this have to happen now?” 

They started running, trying to catch the staircase before it disconnected from the platform and started moving.

“Where’s this thing going?” Angelina asked, frowning. 

“Up?” George offered unhelpfully. 

Angelina rolled her eyes, not dignifying that with a response. 

They were lucky. The staircase decided to stop just outside the Gryffindor Common Room and moments later, the three of them reached the portrait hole. 

Angelina went through first, letting the twins follow. They used their Seventh Year privilege to kick a group of First Years off the armchairs in front of the fireplace. Angelina usually felt guilty about doing that, remembering how it felt when she was a First Year, but right now she was still too angry to care. 

“Okay,” George said, once they were settled. “Let’s get this meeting started, then.”

“We need to do something spectacular, that will go down in Hogwarts legend, that will really piss off Umbridge,” Fred said, grinning.

Angelina raised an eyebrow. “That sounds like it could take a while to plan,” she pointed out. 

“Do we care?” Fred asked. “We have time. The NEWTs are months away.”

“Fair point,” Angelina said, smiling. 

“It might actually be better to wait,” George said, really getting into it now. “Let her think she’s gotten away with this, let her feel secure in her victory, before we tear it out from under her feet!” His blue eyes were glowing as he started to develop this idea.

“Go out with a bang, in a manner of speaking,” Fred said, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Literally!” Fred and George said at the same time, looking at each other in excitement.

Angelina leaned back, smiling fondly, leaving them to their discussion. She knew she would enjoy whatever they came up with, either way. 

Anyway, she had other things to worry about as well. Subtly, she started scanning the Gryffindor Common Room. An idea clicked in her mind as her eyes landed on Ginny Weasley. She made a mental note to casually start a Quidditch conversation with her sometime soon. 


	8. Can you stay?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt number 8: “Can you stay?”
> 
> James is a little nervous for his first year at Hogwarts.
> 
> Day 8 of the Fictober 2019 event.

Ginny walked up the stairs of her house, quietly suppressing a yawn. It was getting late, and she had spent all day in Diagon Alley with her son James, buying different school supplies. James had been a bundle of energy all day, pulling her from one shop to the next, eyes wide as he took in everything that was going on around him. 

It would be James’ first year at Hogwarts soon, and Ginny was fighting some mixed feelings. She was happy for her son, of course. He was so excited, and Ginny remembered how desperate she had been to finally get to Hogwarts. It was a beautiful place, and she knew he couldn’t be in safer hands than with McGonagall and all the teachers there.

Still. She couldn’t ignore that nagging feeling in the back of her mind, worrying. 

How empty would the house be once he was gone? How quiet would meals be, with just Al and Lily there? Would James slowly forget to write letters home? Would he even miss them? 

Ginny mentally slapped herself for being so selfish. She needed to worry about her son right now, not herself. Parents had been sending their kids off to Hogwarts for literal centuries. She would be fine. 

On her way to her and Harry’s bedroom, she passed James’ closed door. Light was coming through the crack by the floorboards. Had he not gone to sleep yet? 

Slowly, Ginny opened the door to poke her head inside. Her eyes softened as she saw her son lying there, with open eyes and his duvet pulled up to his chin.

“Hey,” she said softly. “Aren’t you meant to be asleep by now?”

James shrugged, his face not betraying any emotions. “I couldn’t sleep,” he mumbled.

Ginny closed the door behind her, not wanting to wake his siblings up with their conversation. She tilted her head, considering, and walked over to sit on the side of his bed.

“What’s up?” she asked, eyes soft. “What are you thinking about?”

“Just… what Hogwarts is going to be like,” he said, looking uncharacteristically nervous.

Ginny’s heart ached a little, seeing the subdued worry in his eyes. “Do you want me to tell you more about Hogwarts?”

He nodded, meeting her eyes for the first time.

“Okay... “ Ginny paused for a few moments, thinking. “Well, when you get off the Platform at Hogsmeade, you’ll see Hagrid. You’ve met him loads of times already, right?”

James nodded.

“And he’ll show all of you the way to the boats.” 

“Boats?”

“The boats are amazing. They’ll carry you over the lake, where you’ll get to see the castle for the first time. Usually, I’d say nothing can happen in the boats - it’s perfectly safe - but…” Ginny paused, remembering. “Actually, that’s not quite true. Have I told you about how, in my second year, a boy was so excited that he stood up to look around and he fell in the water?”

James started grinning, seeming more at ease. “Really? What happened?”

“The Giant Squid noticed and lifted him back onto the boat!” Ginny said, giggling a little.

“The Giant Squid?” James asked through his laughter. “How have I never heard about it before? What’s it like?”

“Oh, really friendly,” Ginny said. “Sometimes it waves at students from the lake, and the students wave back.” 

James’ eyes were shining. “I want to meet it,” he said eagerly. 

Ginny smiled as she saw the familiar energy and confidence slowly return to his face again. “You will, soon enough,” she said. “Don’t worry, you’ll absolutely love Hogwarts.”

She reached out to gently ruffle his hair, smiling in satisfaction as she managed to reach his head before he pushed her hands away with a yelp. “I’ll let you get back to sleep now,” she said softly, standing back up.

“Wait,” James said, eyes wide. “Can you stay? Just a little bit longer, until I’ve gone to sleep?”

“Okay,” Ginny said, sitting back down. She watched and smiled softly as her son closed his eyes and curled up onto his side, slowly falling asleep.


	9. There is a certain taste to it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt number 9: “There is a certain taste to it.”
> 
> Tonks tries to cook in the Grimmauld place kitchen.
> 
> Day 9 of Fictober 2019.

“Molly?” Tonks shouted loudly as she left the kitchen at the Order Headquarters. Running up the stairs, she poked her head into several rooms in hopes of finding her. No such luck. Where  _ was  _ she?

“Molly!” she tried again, starting to get desperate.

“Yes?” Tonks heard a voice faintly call from somewhere to her right. She quickly turned and headed in that direction, sighing in relief as she saw Molly in the drawing room, doing something to the curtains. What exactly, Tonks had no idea.

“Molly, I’m so happy I found you,” she said quickly, trying to catch her breath. “Are you busy right now?”

“Not necessarily, dear,” Molly smiled. “I’m just doing the last touches to these curtains - the children did a wonderful job at getting rid of those doxies, but there are still some eggs that are a little stubborn.”

“Oh,” Tonks said, frowning. “Well, I can leave you to it if you’re -”

“No, don’t worry!” Molly rushed to reassure her. “They’ll still be here tomorrow. What did you need my help with?”

“Umm... “ Tonks fought a blush, eternally thankful for her metamorphmagus powers, “I may have made a little mess in the kitchen? I was trying to cook, because I thought it was unfair that you were stuck with all the housework around here, and I wanted to help, but…”

“I see,” Molly interrupted, shaking her head, a knowing look in her eyes. “Come on then, show me what went wrong.”

Tonks felt a rush of gratitude. She turned and led the way down to the kitchen, trying to explain the whole time. “I wanted to make a pie, you know, because Halloween is coming up, but I couldn’t figure out how the oven in this house worked, and I think Kreacher put something in the flour, and I tried to fix it, but just made everything worse, and - well, you can see for yourself,” she finished sheepishly as they arrived at the crime scene. 

It was, to put it frankly, a disaster. Smoke was coming from three different parts of the room, dirty pots were stacked high in the sink, a plate was teetering dangerously close to the edge of the table, and, in the middle of the room, ominously overshadowing everything else, was the pie. If pie was even the right word for this monstrosity. 

Molly was silent for a moment as she took in the sight in front of her. 

“I’m sorry?” Tonks offered again. “I really did want to help.”

That seemed to spur Molly back into action. “No need to apologise, dear, we all started somewhere,” she said, still looking a little thrown. “Well. First things first, let’s take care of the urgent matters.” 

Molly bravely walked into the kitchen, rescued the plate from its looming fate, and turned her attention to the small fires. She pointed her wand at the first one, and extinguished it nonverbally. Tonks, getting the hint, pulled out her own wand to help, and put out the other two. A few Scourgify charms later, the kitchen was looking a lot better, and the smoke was almost gone. 

Tonks started to breathe again, finally relaxing, when Molly said: “Alright, time to look at the pie.”

Tonks quickly followed her over to the table. The two of them looked at it for a few moments. Neither of them spoke. 

Honestly, looking at it in a reasonably clean kitchen, Tonks didn’t think it looked so bad. Sure, the crust was a little burnt, and it wasn’t as pretty as it could have been, but the pumpkin filling had the right colour and at least the entire thing had stayed together when she had taken it ot of the oven.

“Well, come on! Let’s get a plate and see what the pie is like,” Molly said. 

“Okay,” Tonks said eagerly. 

She quickly went over to the cupboard and got two plates out, thankfully not dropping them this time. Grabbing two forks on her way back to the table, she placed everything down and looked at Molly expectantly. 

Molly cut two tiny slices, placing them on the plates, and picked up a fork to take a bite.

Tonks carefully watched her face, looking for the reaction.

Molly chewed thoughtfully, and then put her fork down. She still hadn’t said anything.

“Well?” Tonks asked impatiently.

Molly narrowed her eyes, thinking of the best way to phrase this. “There is a certain taste to it,” she said carefully. 

“What does that mean?” Tonks asked, dreading the answer. 

“Oh, sorry dear, I didn’t mean to make you anxious. It’s definitely not bad!”

Tonks sighed in relief. 

“In fact,” Molly continued, “with a little less sugar and a bit more practice, this could be really good!”

“You think so?” Tonks asked, frowning suspiciously.

Molly smiled softly. “You know what, let’s start again from scratch and I’ll watch what you’re doing.”

Tonks nodded enthusiastically. This could actually be really fun! Her mother had always despaired over her lack of talent in the kitchen, but maybe with some lessons, she could even become passable! Biting her lip in excitement, she grabbed a new bowl and prepared to start again. 


	10. Listen, I can't explain it, you'll have to trust me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt number 10: “Listen, I can’t explain it, you’ll have to trust me.”
> 
> Lily finds out about a secret her boyfriend has been keeping fom her.
> 
> Day 10 of Fictober19.

“Hey guys,” Sirius said cheerfully, sitting down at the dining table. He immediately started loading potatoes and chicken onto his plate. “Sorry, Moony, but I’ll be a bit later than usual tonight. McGonagall decided to give me detention straight after dinner.”

“Sirius…” Remus frowned. 

James could tell he was starting to get worried. He hated anything about the full moon routine being changed. None of them had forgotten the disaster of the “prank” Sirius had pulled on Snape last year. 

“It’ll be fine, Remus,” James said, trying to cheer him up. “Sirius always manages to make it in time. How long’s the detention, Padfoot? An hour?”

Sirius nodded, too busy chewing to respond.

“See, plenty of time!” James told Remus, smiling.

Satisfied that Remus was reassured, he turned back to his conversation with Lily. She had been listening to the exchange, looking at James with fear in her eyes. 

“Did I miss something? Am I understanding this right?” she hissed, urgency in her voice. “What exactly are you planning on doing tonight?”

“It’s a long story,” James said slowly, eying her warily. 

Lily had known Remus was a werewolf since fifth year, when they had been patrol partners together as prefects. They had been friends since first year, and she had noticed for a while how regularly he got sick, and how he was missing anytime they had Astronomy on a full moon. But when he started making excuses every time their patrol fell on a full moon, Lily had started asking him questions about his illness until he explained it to her, making her promise never to tell anyone. James knew that they had never spoken about it again since then. 

James definitely hadn’t explained the whole animagus thing to her yet, since they had only been together for a month and this was the first time since she started spending time with the Marauders regularly that she would actually witness a full moon. 

“You’re really going to go with him?” Lily asked, trying and failing to keep her voice down. “James! You know how dangerous that is! After the transformations, werewolves don’t recognise their friends anymore. He could bite you - he could kill you!” 

“Listen, I can’t explain it, you’ll have to trust me!” James interrupted her with a harsh whisper, nervously glancing over his shoulder, his eyes begging her to drop the topic. The Great Hall was very crowded, and it looked like everyone was busy with their own conversations, but you could never be too sure who was listening in.

Lily sighed, clearly not happy. “I do trust you, but -”

“Come up to the dorm with me after dinner, and we’ll show you, okay?”

“Okay.”

James smiled at her reassuringly, and changed the subject. Remus was glancing back and forth between them, tilting his head in a silent question. 

“Later,” he mouthed, and Remus nodded.

* * *

Once James, Lily, Remus and Peter had said goodbye to Sirius and were all back in the boys’ dormitory, Lily turned to James, raising a challenging eyebrow. 

“Well?” she asked. “What possessed you guys to want to accompany Remus on a full moon? You do know what will happen, right?”

“Oh,” Remus said, finally understanding the problem. “Lily,” he tried to explain, “they won’t be coming with me as humans.”

“What?”

“They… back in second year, they all decided to, um, ...” Remus trailed off.

“We’re animagi,” James said loudly.

“What?!” Lily took a step back.

“We are,” Peter nodded eagerly. “We all trained together, and managed to transform for the first time in fifth year!”

“W- what?” Lily repeated weakly, frowning thoughtfully. “So… you’re all animagi?”

“Not me,” Remus corrected quickly. “Just those three. They wanted to learn to keep me company on full moons, kind of like a pack, you know?”

Lily nodded, eyes brightening as she started getting excited about this. “So you and Peter and Sirius can turn into animals?” she asked James. “And that’s how you stay safe with Remus?” 

James nodded, grateful that she was getting it and staying calm.

“Show me,” she said.

Not needing to be asked twice, James transformed right there in the dormitory, watching Peter do the same. Lily’s eyes widened in shock as she tok in the sight in front of her. Remus was leaning against the wall, watching in amusement. Slowly, Lily reached out an arm to touch James’ nose. “Prongs,” she said, still in awe. “And Wormtail. This makes so much sense now!”

James transformed back into a human. Wormtail quickly followed suit. 

“And Padfoot? What does that mean?” she asked, before interrupting herself. “Wait, don’t tell me - some kind of… cat? No, Sirius hates cats. A dog!”

“Yeah!” James said, impressed. “A really big, black dog.”

Lily shook her head in disbelief. “I assume you don’t care about the fact that this is illegal,” she said, eyes sparkling.

“Since when have we ever cared about whether things are legal?” James said, laughing, relieved that the secret was finally out in the open. 

There was silence for a minute, the atmosphere light now that the tension was gone.

“Sorry to interrupt this,” Remus said awkwardly, “but I should have been at the hospital wing five minutes ago.”

“Oh, no, of course!” Lily said quickly. “Don’t let me keep you.”

With a soft smile, Remus left. 

“You’ll probably leave soon, too, right?” she said, turning to James and Peter. “I’m going to bed for now - but first thing tomorrow, I’ll wait for you in the Common Room.”

James’ heart melted a little. She really was that perfect, wasn’t she? “You don’t have to,” James told her.

“I want to,” she said, frowning before looking down. “I know you guys have done this before, but… I want to make sure you’re alright.” 

Lily looked back up and met James’ eyes. She nodded once more and quickly pecked James on the lips, before turning to leave. 

“Good luck, you guys,” she said before walking out the door.

Jams stared after her for a second. 

He turned back to Peter with a grin. “Reckon we’ve got another half an hour before we need to be down at the shack,” he said. “Fancy a game of Exploding Snap?”


	11. It's not always like this

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt number 11: “It’s not always like this.”
> 
> Parvati visits Lavender during the summer holidays.
> 
> Day 11 of the Fictober event.

Parvati dragged her trunk down the street, walking a few metres behind her mum, breathing heavily. Her mum was refusing to help her, since apparently the weight was Parvati’s own fault for packing so much stuff. 

Parvati was honestly too excited about the upcoming weekend to care. She was finally going to see Lavender again! Last summer, they had both been too busy to arrange visits, especially since they both lived so far away from each other. But now, she was going to spend a whole three days at her best friends house, before leaving for King’s Cross together to start their third year.

Parvati’s mum had apparated them to the outskirts of town, and they were walking the rest of the way, not wanting unwanted attention from muggles in the neighbourhood. 

“I believe this is the street,” Mum said, turning a corner. “What’s the address again, Parvati?”

“Number 27,” Parvati said, already starting to look for the house. 

“Ooh, look!” she tapped her mum on the shoulder, pointing. “There it is!”

It was a small house, very pretty, with one storey, and a chimney visible on the red roof. There was a small garden out front, with a patch of lawn surrounded by some flowers that looked like they hadn’t been tended to in a while. 

Parvati walked up to the front door, excited, and knocked. Her mum followed her, looking around in interest.

A few seconds later, Lavender’s mum opened the door, looking frazzled. A small baby was balanced on her hip and a young boy was curiously peeking out from behind her leg. “Hello!” she said, smiling. “Parvati, right? We met at the train station last year!”

“Yes, hello,” Parvati said, a bit shy. “Thank you for letting me stay for a few days, Mrs Brown.” 

“It’s our pleasure,” Mrs Brown insisted. Then she looked over Parvati’s shoulder, addressing her mum with a smile. “You must be Parvati’s mum, right?” she asked. “Would you like to come inside for a bit, have a cup of tea? It must have been quite a long journey.”

“Oh, no thanks,” Parvati’s mum said quickly. “I really should get home. But thank you for the kind offer - it was lovely meeting you!” 

Parvati turned around to give her mum a hug, saying goodbye. She probably wouldn’t see her again until the Christmas holidays, since she would be going straight to King’s Cross with Lavender in a few days.

Once her mum had left, Parvati walked into the corridor, pulling her trunk behind her. She followed Mrs Brown, who was already talking, showing her where everything was. Parvati looked around, feeling a little nervous.

Suddenly, Lavender appeared, a little out of breath. Her curly black hair was pulled up in a messy bun, and she was wearing muggle clothes. 

“Parvati!” she shouted, pulling her into a hug. Parvati laughed, hugging her best friend back. “Hi!” she replied, excited. 

“I didn’t hear you knock! How long have you been here?”

“I only just arrived,” Parvati said, giggling. “I missed you so much!”

Their excited voices mingled together as they started talking over each other. Parvati stopped speaking, a little self-conscious, as she noticed Lavender’s mum still standing there, watching them with a smile.

Confused, Lavender looked at Parvati and then at her mum, and rolled her eyes. 

“I’ll go and give the children something to eat,” Mrs Brown said, laughing a little.

“Come on,” Lavender said, grabbing Parvati’s wrist. “I’ll show you my room.”

She opened a door to their left, with a big sign that said “Lavender” in swirly, purple letters. She walked inside, allowing Parvati to follow, who was very relieved to finally be able to put down her trunk.

The bed took up most of the room. Clothes were spread out on various chairs. The walls were bare, which surprised Parvati for a second, until she noticed the posters that were stacked up on the floor.

“It’s not always like this,” Lavender said, a blush colouring her cheeks. “I only just moved into this room last week, since my sister moved out. I shared a room with my brother before. So I haven’t... had a chance to decorate yet.”

“Ooh!” Parvati said, perking up. “Does that mean I can help you decorate?”

Lavender looked surprised. “Sure, if you want!”

“I love decorating,” Parvati said. “At home, I share a room with Padma, and she doesn’t like posters or anything being on the walls, so I can’t really do anything. And this room is so pretty, there’s so much you can do with it!”

Lavender started nodding, getting excited, and threw herself onto the bed. “Yes! I always wanted a chain of lights in my room. And maybe I can ask mum to change the colour of the curtains!”

“That’s such a good idea!” Parvati said, sitting down next to Lavender. 

They were silent for a few seconds. Lavender lay down on her bed and looked up at Parvati with a smile. “I’m really glad you could come and visit,” she said. 

Parvati smiled back. “Me too,” she said. 

“Come on,” Lavender said, jumping back up. “Let’s see if mum has any lunch for us!”

Parvati followed her out the door. 


	12. What if I don't see it?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt number 12: “What if I don’t see it?”
> 
> Hermione finds out that she is a witch.
> 
> Day 12 of Fictober 2019.

Hermione was surprised by the doorbell ringing on a Saturday morning. Who could that be? They weren’t expecting anyone, were they? 

She exchanged confused glances with her parents and put her book down, watching curiously as her mother got up to answer the door. She heard a female voice talking, and debated going back to her book. If it was just a salesperson, she wouldn’t need to pay attention, after all. 

Suddenly she heard her mum invite the person inside. Hermione’s dad got up too, going to the door to properly greet whoever it was.

Hermione sat up on the sofa, watching the doorway of the living room anxiously. When she saw her parents walk back into the room, followed by an older looking lady in a business-like dress, she quickly stood up and put on her best smile. 

She looked at her mum curiously, waiting for an introduction. 

Her mum said: “Hermione, this is Professor…” She looked at the lady uncertainly, trailing off. “McGonagall?” 

The woman nodded in confirmation.

“Professor McGonagall,” her mum repeated. “She would like to discuss options of different schooling with you.”

Hermione perked up. Schools? 

She smiled at the Professor and reached out to shake her hand. “It’s very nice to meet you, Professor McGonagall,” she said. “My name is Hermione Granger.” 

“Should we all sit down?” Hermione’s dad suggested.

The Professor smiled, and moved over to sit down in an armchair. “Hermione,” she began speaking. “I work at a boarding school in Scotland. It’s a very exclusive school - few people have heard of it - and I would like to offer you a place there.”

Hermione nodded, wide-eyed. 

“You see, the school is especially suited for children who are… gifted. I see no other way to phrase this….” she visibly hesitated. “It has come to our attention that you are a witch.” 

“A what?” Hermione frowned. Her parents exchanged shocked glances. 

“A witch,” Professor McGonagall repeated. “Magically gifted.” She paused, taking in their doubtful expressions. “Mr and Mrs Granger,” she tried to explain, “witches and wizards exist. I myself am a witch. We are a relatively small community, living in secret from the muggle, non-magical world, after the Statute of Secrecy in 1692.”

“Excuse me," Hermione’s dad asked, frowning. "You seem like a perfectly pleasant lady, but - is this a joke?” 

“No, not at all!” Professor McGonagall said quickly. “Maybe you will believe me if I demonstrate.” She pulled a long, thin stick out of her pocket. “This is my wand,” she explained. “I can light it up like this.” She waved her wand and said “Lumos!” The wand began to emit a bright white light. 

Hermione couldn’t believe her eyes.

“Or I can levitate this book,” she said, saying something that sounded like Wingardium Leviosa. Hermione and her parents watched in disbelief as the book Hermione had been reading minutes before started floating. Slowly, Hermione’s mum reached out a hand and waved it above and below the book. “No wires,” she said, her voice shaking slightly. 

They all stared at Professor McGonagall. 

“So this is real,” Hermione whispered. “You really are a witch? Do you always wear pointy hats and turn people into toads?” 

"No," Professor McGonagall said, amusement in her eyes, “but I can turn myself into a cat.” Not even waiting for a response, she stood up and turned into a cat and back again. 

“Oh my god!” Hermione’s mum shouted, covering her mouth with her hand.

Hermione's heart started beating faster. How did that happen? How was that even possible?

The Professor smiled apologetically and sat back down, as a human. “I’m sorry to have shocked you,” she said, trying to calm them down, “but I needed you to believe me. Your daughter Hermione is a witch as well, and I would be very happy if she decided to come to my school to learn how to control her abilities.” 

Hermione’s parents nodded, still unable to speak.

“Here is your acceptance letter.” Professor McGonagall handed over a letter to Hermione. As she took it, Hermione immediately noticed that it was made of actual parchment with a wax seal, and addressed to her. Casting dubious looks at her parents, she opened the letter. 

Her mouth moved almost imperceptibly as she started taking in the words. “You have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry…” she breathed, eyes widening. 

Once she had finished reading, she looked back up at Professor McGonagall, handing the letter over for her dad to read. Her heart pounding in her throat, Hermione asked: “Is this real? I mean, I believe that you are a witch, of course! But how can _ I _be a witch?”

“Magical children start showing signs of accidental magic around the age of five or six, and begin formal education at eleven. Have you ever done something you couldn’t explain, when you were scared, or angry or happy?”

Hermione swallowed. She looked at her parents’ concerned faces and remembered the dolls that her mother would take away at bedtime reappearing in her arms, and the books conveniently falling down from high shelves, and the flowers growing in her hands. She nodded, finally starting to be convinced. 

“Um…” she said, because she still had so many questions and didn’t know where to start. “The letter said that they expect my owl by the 31st of August, what does that mean? How do I get my books and my wand? Is there anything I should study before the term begins?”

“Owls are the preferred methods of sending letters in the Wizarding world. Most people own a pet owl that they use to send letters, but there are also owls for rent at the Post Office in Diagon Alley.”

Noticing their confused faces, she continued to explain. “Diagon Alley is in London, but it is hidden from muggle view. You enter it through a pub called the Leaky Cauldron, that is charmed so only wizards can see it and notice that it is there. So, Hermione, you will have to guide your parents through the door in order for them to enter.”

Hermione swallowed nervously. “What if I don’t see it?”

“You will see it,” McGonagall said reassuringly. “Trust me, you are a witch and you will be able to see the pub.” 

Hermione felt flutters in her stomach as Professor McGonagall went on to explain the route to the Leaky Cauldron to Hermione’s parents, and how to get through various other magical barriers. 

She was a witch. There was an explanation for all the things she had been teased for in primary school. She wasn’t the only one who was different - she belonged somewhere. 

Hermione looked at her parents in excitement as she started thinking about everything she was going to learn. Would there be other people from non-magical families there? Everyone would probably know so much more about magic than she did! She would have to study hard to keep up and make friends. 

Hermione’s smile grew bigger as she started getting excited about all the things the future had to offer.


	13. I never knew it could be this way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt number 13: “I never knew it could be this way.”
> 
> Sirius goes shopping in muggle London.
> 
> Day 13 of Fictober 2019.

“I never knew it could be this way,” Sirius said, looking around the city in awe. “I mean, I’ve lived in London my whole life, but I was never allowed to see this side of it.”

Lily laughed as she paved her way through the crowds, the boys following her. “This is what the real London’s like,” she said. “Come on, I want to show you around!”

There were people everywhere, dressed in jeans and leather jackets, boys with outrageously long hair and girls in mini skirts. Sirius had always paid rapt attention to muggle fashion before, but he had never seen so many people in one place, all in different outfits. He felt like he would never get sick of looking around. 

James and Peter were looking a bit unsure as they followed Lily around, sticking close by. They hadn’t had much experience in the muggle world, and were intimidated by the culture differences, though Remus and Sirius had been able to convert them to be David Bowie fans after years of playing his albums in their dorm. 

Remus, on the other hand, was in his element, chatting casually to Lily as he walked beside her. Growing up with a muggle mother, he had always had non-magical friends, and had no problem finding his way around the tube or using a telephone box. Sirius didn’t know how he did it. 

“Oh my God, I love this shop!” Lily said suddenly. Looking over her shoulder to make sure they were all following her, she opened the door to let them inside. 

It was small, Sirius thought as he looked around. Small and a little quaint, but really cool. There were rows upon rows of clothes, and second-hand albums, and magazines. What kind of shop was this? 

“Feel free to explore,” Lily said, already digging through the box with second-hand albums. 

Sirius didn’t even know where to begin. He turned slowly on the spot, just taking everything in.

Suddenly, something caught his eye in the corner of the room. 

A black leather jacket. 

He walked over to it slowly, as if in a trance. He was in love immediately - he had never seen anything like it. It had subtle silver decorations and several zips in odd places, and it was the coolest thing he had ever seen. 

Sirius took it from the hanger and put it on, looking into a mirror across the room. Thankfully, it fit him perfectly. 

A shop assistant walked up to him and asked: “Can I help you with anything, sir?”

“I’d like to buy this jacket,” Sirius answered quickly. “How much is it?”

“It’s £25,” the guy said with a smile. “Should I take it to the counter for you?”

“Yes, please,” Sirius said, following him across the room. He pulled out his wallet, grateful that he had remembered to exchange some galleons into pounds before entering muggle London. 

As he reached the counter, he saw that his friends were also finished with their shopping. He quickly paid for the jacket and waited as Lily paid for her ABBA album, and James and Peter for their magazines. 

He saw Remus waiting by the door and walked over to him. 

“You didn’t buy anything?” Sirius asked. 

“No,” Remus said, smiling a little. “It was cool looking around, though. That jacket is incredible, by the way.”

Sirius beamed. “Isn’t it? I want to wear it everywhere. I can’t wait til I have a motorbike to go with it.” 


	14. I can't come back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt number 14: “I can’t come back.”
> 
> Lily and Petunia have a conversation.
> 
> Day 14 of the Fictober19 event.

Lily picked up the phone as soon as it started ringing. She put down the book she was reading as she held the receiver to her ear.

“Lily Evans?” she asked, curious.

“Hi, Lily, it’s Petunia,” a voice answered. 

Lily’s heart skipped a beat. “Petunia?” she asked. “Oh my God, hi! I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting you. How are you?”

“I’m pretty well, thank you,” Petunia answered, sounding happy. “I just wanted to let you know that Vernon bought a house. He’s very well off, especially after his promotion last year, and he managed to find us a very nice house in Surrey.”

“Tuney, that’s amazing!” Lily said. “Congratulations, I’m so happy for you! When are you going to move in?”

“In a month, when the construction workers are finished.”

“That’s so exciting! I’m really happy for you,” Lily repeated. She bit her lip, wondering what to say next. 

“How about you?” her sister asked. “Are you still together with that boy… what was his name again?”

“James,” Lily said. “And yes, we moved in together a few months ago. We’re in a flat in London.”

A pause.

“Tuney?” Lily asked softly. “Actually, I have some exciting news for you too. James and I are getting married soon!”

“Married?” Petunia repeated.

“And, I was wondering…” Lily hesitated. “Your wedding was so beautiful. Would you want to help with my wedding too? Maybe... you would want to be my bridesmaid?”

Petunia didn’t say anything.

“Or you don’t have to, of course! If you and Vernon just want to come to the wedding as guests, that’s completely fine too! It will be quite a small wedding, anyway. Just family and close friends. We don’t want anything extravagant.” She paused before continuing. “I think you know that things aren’t going very well in my world, politically.” Lily never used the word “war” when talking to her sister about this. 

“ _ Your _ world?” Petunia’s voice was sharp, and Lily flinched.

“Yes, my world,” she responded, getting defensive now. “The  _ wizarding  _ world,” she emphasised, knowing she was just being provocative now.

“You’re seriously still doing this? That isn’t your world! I’m your family, Lily!  _ Especially  _ now.” Petunia said. “After our parents -” Petunia cut herself off.

Lily swallowed. That was too far. Their parents’ death hadn’t even been a year ago. And at the funeral, Petunia had stuck to Vernon’s side the entire time, while Lily hadn’t even been allowed to take James or Mary or any of her friends. 

Petunia tried again. 

Her voice was soft. 

“Haven’t you thought about stopping this? You’re an adult now, Lily. School’s over. Isn’t it time to grow up? Leave all that magic stuff behind and… come back home?”

Lily’s heart broke a little. “I can’t come back, Tuney,” she said, her voice cracking. “This is my home now.”

A long pause.

Lily could hear Petunia swallow harshly.

“Fine,” Petunia said, all emotion gone from her voice. “You choose him. You choose that school. I understand.”

“Tuney, stop, that’s not what I meant!” Lily said. “I just - I can’t choose between you and… and my whole world. Please don’t make me!”

No answer.

“We can still keep in touch - this doesn’t have to be like this. Please, at least consider coming to the wedding?”

“Goodbye, Lily,” Petunia said quickly. 

She hung up.

Lily stayed on the phone for a long time, trying not to cry. 

After a while, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned and fell into James’ arms, the dam inside her finally breaking as she started sobbing. 


	15. That's what I'm talking about!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt number 15: “That’s what I’m talking about!”
> 
> Hermione and Ron go shopping.
> 
> Day 15 of the Fictober19 event.

“Ron,” Hermione said, a little exasperated. “You’ve been dragging me around this shop for an hour now. Are you sure you didn’t just dream that it was here?”

“No, obviously I didn’t _ dream _it,” Ron said in a scathing tone, still sifting through various pieces of fabrics. “I’m sure it has to be here somewhere.”

He walked over to the other side of the shelf to keep looking.

Hermione followed him reluctantly. She still wasn’t done with this conversation. “But can’t we just ask your mum to help us -”

“Look!” Ron interrupted her, pointing wildly at something over Hermione’s shoulder. “That’s what I’m talking about!”

“What?” Hermione said, turning around. She saw light blue fabric, with a pretty, white embroidered pattern on it. “Oh my God,” she gasped. “I love it!”

“Isn’t it pretty?” Ron said enthusiastically. 

“That’s so pretty!” Hermione couldn’t take her eyes off it. “We could definitely use it for the wedding!”

“I was thinking -” Ron said.

“Table cloths?” Hermione suggested.

“Yes!” Ron shouted, eyes lighting up.

“We could even have a blue theme running through our decorations,” Hermione said, getting into it now. She had always thought she hated decorating, but apparently her own wedding was an exception.

“Maybe we can ask Parvati for help,” Ron said. 

“True! She’s doing this kind of thing professionally now, right? I’ll send her an owl when we get home,” Hermione said.

Ron turned back to the fabrics, and Hermione quickly tapped his shoulder to get his attention as an idea came to her. "Maybe I could have something similar in my wedding dress?"

"You mean white with a blue pattern? I love that!"

"Okay," Hermione said, grinning as she nodded contemplatively. "I'll have a look when I go shopping with Ginny next week."

Hermione suddenly felt a pang of hunger. "Let's grab lunch after this," she said.

Ron gave her a surprised look. "Isn't that usually my job?"

"Shut up," she said, rolling her eyes.

“Oh, speaking of food, remember Harry and Ginny’s wedding last year?” Ron asked. 

“You mean the massive cake?”

“Do you think mum will bake another one if we ask her really nicely?”

“With blue icing?”

“Yes!” Ron said enthusiastically. 

Hermione shook her head in wonder, looking down briefly before meeting his eyes. “I can’t believe it’s only two months away,” she said softly.

They stared at each other for a moment, before their faces broke out into matching smiles.

Ron leaned in to kiss her for a brief moment, then pulled away again, grabbing her hand. 

“Come on,” he said, grinning at her. “Let’s finish this shopping tour.”

“Hey!” Hermione shouted as he tried to walk away. “Don’t forget the fabric!”

She quickly grabbed it and ran after him, trying to catch up as he made his way to the counter. 


	16. Listen. No, really listen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt number 16: “Listen. No, really listen.”
> 
> Hermione and Harry are looking for food in the forest.
> 
> Day 16 of the Fictober19 event.

Hermione sneezed as she bent down to kneel on the forest floor, looking for mushrooms. She smiled as Harry quietly called out a "Bless you."

She was definitely getting a cold. They had run out of food again. It hadn’t snowed yet, but they were quickly nearing December. It was only a matter of time before winter truly began. Hermione hoped the tent would hold - maybe some more warming charms would help?

She slowly stood back up, a couple of mushrooms in her hand, and turned around to see if Harry had had more luck than her. 

Harry suddenly stopped moving, holding up a hand as a warning.

“Harry?” Hermione asked.

“Shh,” Harry said softly. “Listen.”

She opened her mouth to ask him what was going on, but he cut her off.

“No,” he breathed. “Really listen.”

They were both quiet for a moment, straining their ears, until they could faintly hear voices from afar.

Hermione sent Harry a panicked look. They were quite far away from the tent - it would take a while to get back there now.

Pulling out her wand, Hermione cursed internally. Why were they so _ stupid_?

Since Ron - Hermione cut that thought off before it finished forming in her head. She tried again. _ Now that they were only two people, _ they were even more careful than before. They hadn’t even left the perimeter of the protective spells in days, and only apparated under the invisibility cloak. Today was an exception. An emergency, almost, since their food supply was nearly gone. 

Apparently they hadn’t been careful enough. 

Hermione met Harry’s eyes as they listened to the voices coming closer. She nodded her head in the other direction, and slowly they both started inching backwards. 

They had no way of telling whether these voices belonged to a family of winter campers or Death Eaters, and they definitely didn’t want to find out. 

Very quietly, Harry and Hermione made their way back to the tent. Hermione nearly had a heart attack when she stepped on a dry branch that cracked beneath her feet, but luckily the people were too far away to notice. Hermione closed her eyes and thanked Merlin for the thick growth of the trees, shielding them from view. 

After what felt like hours of holding her breath, she could finally see the clearing where they were staying. With a grim feeling of satisfaction, Hermione noticed that the protection spells were definitely working. If you didn’t know the tent was there, it was impossible to tell. 

Wand in hand, Harry turned around to guard the tree line as Hermione entered the safe zone, and then he followed her inside. 

She breathed a sigh of relief, heart pounding in her chest. “That was close,” she said.

“Yeah,” Harry said, frowning. His eyes were still scanning the forest. He, too, seemed a little shaken. “We’ll really need to be more careful from now on.”


	17. There was just something about them.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt number 17: “There was just something about them/her/him.”
> 
> Sirius is back in Number 12, Grimmauld Place, and spends some time with Buckbeak.
> 
> Day 17 of the Fictober19 event.

He would never admit it to anyone, but Hippogriffs used to scare Sirius a little. 

There was just something about them. Their sharp beaks, enormous talons, the harsh pride in their eyes. When they had been covered during Care of Magical Creatures in his third year, he had genuinely been a little worried about what they would do. Thankfully, nothing had happened, and he’d even been allowed to stroke one of the hippogriffs in the herd, but still. He was never really comfortable around them. Sirius had secretly been eternally grateful when that unit of Care of Magical Creatures was over, and they could move on to salamanders and flobberworms.

After graduating, Sirius had never expected to interact with a hippogriff again. He definitely hadn’t thought a hippogriff would become his travelling companion for an entire year, and then start living in his mother’s old bedroom. Some things you just couldn’t make up. 

Sirius gently opened the door to Buckbeak’s room, and the hippogriff turned his head slowly. Maintaining eye contact, Sirius bowed briefly and Buckbeak nodded in recognition, allowing Sirius to lay down the food he had brought. 

This couldn't be a permanent solution.

No one deserved to live in captivity like this, Sirius thought. He could tell Buckbeak was sad and bored and missed the Forest. 

For now, though, Sirius continued to feed him and take care of him. He could barely believe he had only met Buckbeak a year ago, when Harry and Hermione had somehow managed to fly up to his temporary cell and rescue him. 

Over the past year, he and Buckbeak had somehow become… friends? Companions, at least. Sirius definitely didn’t know what he would have done without him, all alone on some tropical island or in the caves by Hogsmeade. 

He idly stroked Buckbeak’s head as the hippogriff ate. 

“You’ll be okay,” he murmured, not knowing whether he was talking to the animal or to himself. He supposed it didn’t even matter, anyway. They were in pretty similar situations. Except Buckbeak actually had a chance of leaving this place sometime. Would Sirius ever be able to get out of this hellhole? 

Suddenly, he heard a loud crash in the hallway downstairs. The Order had returned.

Harry was here! 

Sirius started grinning, some of his old energy returning. He jumped up as he said goodbye to Buckbeak, and rushed down the stairs to greet his godson.


	18. Secrets? I love secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt number 18: “Secrets? I love secrets.”
> 
> Rose goes to her cousins for advice.
> 
> Day 18 of the Fictober19 event.

“Al!” Rose said, turning him around to face her. “I need advice.”

“What’s going on?” Albus said. “Is something wrong with you and Scorpius?”

“No, we’re great. It’s just -” Rose looked at Al in desperation as she tried to find the words. “I just don’t know how I’m going to tell -”

“What are you talking about?” James barged in on the conversation, joining their little group huddle. 

Rose shot him a scathing glare. “Private stuff, James. Secrets that don’t concern you.”

“Secrets?” James asked, his eyes lighting up. “I love secrets.”

“But you’re not very good at keeping them, are you?” Al asked. 

James met his eyes, a pleading expression on his face. “Please tell me what you’re talking about? I promise I’ll keep my mouth shut!” He moved his fingers across his lips in a zipping motion. 

Albus looked at Rose. 

Rose looked back. 

She sighed in resignation. “Fine!” she said. “We’re talking about Scorpius.”

James’ eyes widened slightly. “Scorpius?” he asked, frowning. “Did you guys break up or something?”

“What?” Rose asked, staring at him in shock. “No! How - how did you even know we’re together?” 

James tilted his head and looked at her, exasperated. “Come on, Rose. The entire school knows about you and Scorpius. You’re not exactly subtle.”

Rose blushed slightly. “I didn’t know that,” she said, frowning. “Anyway,” she continued, “we weren’t even talking about that. We -” she hesitated, “were trying to think of ways I could tell my parents.”

“Your parents don’t know?” James asked, a little surprised.

“No.” Rose bit her lip. “I met Mr Malfoy over the summer, and he was absolutely lovely, but I haven’t really got around to telling my parents.”

James nodded in understanding. “Well, I’d say you should just tell them. When we get off the train for Christmas, just take Scorpius, walk up to your parents and say: ‘Hey guys, we’re dating.’ It shouldn’t be _ that _difficult, I mean… they’d understand...” James trailed off as both Rose and Al stared at him in disbelief. 

“Have you _ met _my parents?” Rose asked. “They hate Mr Malfoy - you should know, Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny aren’t that much different.”

“They don’t hate him, Rose,” Al said, trying to placate her. “I’m in Slytherin and Scorpius is my best friend - and my parents get on great with him. I’m sure your parents would be fine with it if they saw how happy you guys are together.”

Rose sighed. “You think?” she asked, looking up hopefully. 

“Yeah,” Al said, and James nodded encouragingly. 

“Don’t worry, if they do kick you out, you can just come live with us!” James said.

“James!” Rose shouted, and James laughed, quickly jumping back to avoid her arm as she tried to hit him. 

“I’m just saying!” he defended himself, still laughing. “Seriously, though,” he continued, “it’ll be fine.”

“Thanks, guys,” Rose said. She smiled a little, starting to feel better. 

She took a deep breath, and nodded once, back to her normal steely self. “Okay, I’m going to talk to Scorpius. Bye!” she said, and turned on her heel, not looking back as she walked away.

“_There’s _ our Rose,” James said, grinning. “I was starting to wonder what had happened to her. I’ve never seen her this emotional.”

Al rolled his eyes. “Hey, Rose is okay,” he said, a little defensive. “Not everyone needs to be as overly emotional as you, you..." he struggle to think of an appropriate insult. "You Gryffindor!”

James snorted.

Al paused briefly, glancing up at his brother. “Hey, do you think Ron and Hermione are really going to be fine with it?”

“Yeah, obviously!” James waved dismissively. “They adore Rose. And I know they’ll love Scorpius too, I mean… how can anyone even _ be _that perfect? They’d be stupid not to love him.” He grinned again. “And if they’re not, I have a couple of dungbombs that would be perfect for revenge!”

Albus rolled his eyes again. “Come on,” he said, turning around. “Let’s just go down to dinner.”


	19. Yes, I admit it, you were right

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt number 19: “Yes, I admit it, you were right.”
> 
> Oliver and Percy go for a walk on a Hogsmeade weekend.
> 
> Day 19 of Fictober.

The sun was shining brightly over the lake, and the castle seemed small in the distance. It was a cold day, the flowers were just beginning to grow after the thaw of spring. Sadly, the cold did nothing to help Percy Weasley, who was red-faced and severely out of breath as he struggled to keep up with Oliver on this hike he had been forced to go on.

Percy breathed heavily as he finally reached the top of the hill. He took a minute to catch his breath before joining Oliver, who stood a few metres ahead and was already admiring the view of Hogwarts. 

Oliver turned his head to grin at Percy. “Wasn’t this worth it? Look!” He gestured excitedly around them. “This is by far my favourite place in Hogsmeade.”

Begrudgingly, Percy could kind of see Oliver’s point. It was an extremely beautiful view. The spot was protected by the mountains on two sides, and this part of the hill was completely hidden from view from the people below, though from above, you could see everything. The castle, the surrounding forest, the caves in the mountains behind them, the tiny huts and shopping students below.

“Well?” Oliver was still waiting for a response.

“Yes, I admit it, you were right,” Percy said, grinning despite his attempts to keep a straight face. “This view is definitely worth it.”

“Ha!” Oliver said victoriously. “Knew you didn’t really want to be holed up in our dorm all day, studying for the OWLs that aren’t for another year and a half!”

Percy rolled his eyes. “I already said you were right, Merlin! No need to keep milking it,” he said. “I got the lesson: breaks are important, and you should actually go to Hogsmeade on a Hogsmeade weekend.”

“Very good,” Oliver said, shaking his head as he tried not to laugh. 

“I can’t believe I’ve never been up here before,” Percy said, looking around. “I didn’t even know this place existed.”

“It’s so well hidden, right? Me, Alicia and Katie found this place on a Hogsmeade weekend a couple of months ago. We never would have even realised this existed if we hadn’t gotten lost somewhere on our way back down from the mountain.”

Percy shot him a look, and Oliver took a dramatic step back. “What’s that face for?” he asked in indignation. “No, I do not have a problem finding my way to places, thank you very much!”

Percy raised his eyebrows in disbelief. “Okay,” he said innocently, holding his hands up in surrender. “Anyway, it’s a good thing you did get lost, because… I mean, look at this!”

He gestured in the general direction of the surroundings. 

Oliver nodded emphatically. 

They were silent for a moment, enjoying the view. 

Percy looked at his watch and cursed under his breath. “It’s getting late, we should definitely start heading back if we want to make it before curfew!”

“Really?” Oliver asked, turning to follow Percy.

“Come on!” Percy said. “We only have another hour before we have to be back at Hogwarts!”

“Relax!” Oliver shouted after Percy, who was already speed walking down the hill. “That’s so much time! We don’t have to hurry!”

Percy didn’t seem to hear him, and Oliver shook his head in exasperation. He started running down the hill to catch up. 


	20. You could talk about it, you know?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt number 20: “You could talk about it, you know?”
> 
> Draco and Scorppius have a conversation.
> 
> Day 20 of Fictober.

Fire. 

Draco watched in horror as Crabbe fell into the flames below, his face changing into Dumbledore’s midfall. Draco’s wand was shaking as it pointed at Dumbledore, who suddenly turned into Potter, and then to hundreds of faces of people whose names he had never even cared to remember. Astoria was looking at him from her bed, her face ashen and bloodless. She opened her mouth, but Draco couldn’t hear what she was saying. His left arm was burning as the Dark Lord summoned his followers. 

Draco screamed.

He opened his eyes, shaking heavily, to see Scorpius’ concerned face above him.

“Dad?” Scorpius was asking, shaking Draco’s shoulders in a panic. “Dad!”

He stopped as soon as he saw Draco was awake, and leaned forward, hugging him in relief. “You’re awake,” he said, letting go. “You - you wouldn’t wake up. I was coming home from work and you were… you were screaming.”

“I’m sorry you had to see that,” Draco said, trying to regain his composure. “I didn’t intend to fall asleep on the sofa tonight.”

“I didn’t even know you had nightmares,” Scorpius said quietly.

“I don’t,” Draco said quickly.

Scorpius gave him a look.

“Or… I didn’t,” Draco amended. He looked at his son, trying to assess how much to say. “They have gotten worse since your mother died,” he offered quietly.

Scorpius swallowed. “I didn’t know,” he repeated.

“I didn’t want you to worry about me. You’re about to move in together with Albus, you have your work, and your life, you shouldn’t waste time taking care of your crazy father,” Draco said, aiming for a joking tone. It didn’t work.

“You’re not crazy!” Scorpius frowned. 

“Right,” Draco murmured. He breathed in deeply, unsure what to say.

“You could - you could talk about it, you know?” Scorpius’ face was open and encouraging. 

Draco looked away, not saying anything. He wasn’t even brave enough to look his son in the eyes, he thought bitterly. 

“I just don’t like to see you hurting,” Scorpius broke the silence. 

Draco forced a smile onto his face. “I’m not hurting,” he said. “I’m fine, honestly! I have you, right? And Albus, and the house elves, and-” he struggled to think of other names. “And everyone else, and that’s all I need. I’m fine,  _ really _ .”

Scorpius just looked at him, biting his lip indecisively. 

“I just don’t like the thought of you alone in this big house, once I’m living with Albus,” Scorpius mumbled. 

“I mean, you’ll visit, right?” Draco said reassuringly. “I won’t be alone, and don’t worry, I’ll be over at your flat so often you’ll get sick of me.”

Scorpius smiled, but still didn’t look convinced. “Just promise me you’ll talk to someone? It doesn’t have to be me, but maybe someone who was also there during the war? Or one of those muggle mind healers at St Mungo’s? I could talk to Rose, she works there. She’ll definitely know someone!”

“No, that’s alright,” Draco said quickly. A shiver of horror ran down his spine at the thought of mind healers. “I’m not going to the hospital, but I will talk to someone, promise. Actually, tell you what, I’ll arrange a meeting for lunch with Pansy, and some of my other old friends from school.”

Scorpius nodded, finally satisfied. “Okay,” he said, and gave Draco a small smile.

They were silent for a few seconds, before Scorpius tried to suppress a yawn.

Draco smiled fondly. “That’s our cue to go back to sleep, I think,” he said. “Come on, I promise I’ll fall asleep in my bed, this time, and not on the sofa.”

They both got up from their seated positions, and slowly walked up the stairs, and into their bedrooms. 


	21. Change is annoyingly difficult

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt number 21: “Change is annoyingly difficult.”
> 
> James moves out of the Marauders' flat.
> 
> Day 21 of Fictober.

“Change is annoyingly difficult,” Sirius groaned one evening, his voice muffled by the fact that he was lying face down on the sofa in a pile of cushions.

“What are you talking about, Padfoot?” James asked, struggling to carry a box that was overflowing with books. He quickly put the box down before sitting next to Sirius. “I’m just moving into the empty apartment across the street. It’s not like we’ll never see each other again. And Pete’s moving out, too, so it’s not like I’m the only one leaving!”

“The Marauders are over.” Sirius flipped onto his back to stare dramatically at the ceiling. “Now that Prongs is leaving us for his one true love, we’re all doomed!”

James rolled his eyes and got up again. “Okay, got it, you’re in that kind of mood.” He went back to packing boxes.

Sirius lifted his head to frown at James. When he didn’t get the response he had been hoping for, he flopped back down, an unmistakable pout on his face.

Peter and Remus exchanged amused glances from where they’d been silently watching the interaction. 

Sirius sat up, choosing to drop the theatrics. “I’m serious, Prongs,” he said.

Peter opened his mouth to make the age old, long dead joke, but Sirius cut him off with a “Shut up, Pete,” before he could even make a sound. 

Sirius kept looking at James. “What’s happening to us?”

James looked at Sirius, head tilted in concern. 

For a second, no one spoke.

Then Peter broke the silence. “Come on, guys, let’s go out tonight. It’s been ages since we did anything fun, with work and the Order and moving and everything.”

Sirius sent Peter an impressed glance. “That’s actually a great idea,” he said, slowly cheering up. 

“I do kind of miss our midnight outings to Hogsmeade,” Remus offered, a small smile on his face.

“I know, right? We haven’t even been out of school for a year and we’re already boring grown-ups!” Sirius said. 

James was listening to all this, a grin growing on his face. He nodded decisively and clapped his hand, taking charge. “Let’s go,” he said.

“Now?” Remus frowned.

“Why not?” James was already on his way to the door. “The night is young and it’s been far too long since we’ve done anything fun!”

Remus and Sirius exchanged a look, and shrugged, jumping up as well. Peter quickly followed.

“Should I get Lily and Marlene and the rest of the girls?” Remus asked, pulling on a coat.

“No. They’re great, but let’s just keep it to the four of us tonight,” Sirius said.

Remus smiled and nodded, following James and Sirius out the door. 

Peter frowned. He was starting to get used to this new feeling of constantly being ignored. He couldn’t help feeling like they were all growing apart, and he didn’t know what to do to fix it. Why were they all - Hadn’t it been it  _ his  _ idea that they go out? Peter shook his head to clear it of these thoughts. Maybe a night at the bar was just what the Marauders needed to make everything okay again, like it had been in school. 

He turned the lights in the apartment off and closed the door behind him. 


	22. We could have a chance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt number 22: “We could have a chance.”
> 
> Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione during the summer after the War.
> 
> Day 22 of Fictober.

The summer of 1998 was hot. On this particular afternoon in mid-August, the sun was especially bright and unforgiving, and even the shady trees in the gardens surrounding the Burow weren’t much help. 

Water was the only relief left. Muggle water guns, to be precise.

“If we attack now, we could have a chance,” Ginny whispered to Harry, trying not to give away their hiding spot behind the Burrow. 

“They’re not even looking our way!” Harry whispered back. He clutched his water gun tightly in his hand and looked at his girlfriend. “Now?” he asked.

She met his eyes. “Now.”

They both ran out into the garden with a loud battle cry.

Ron and Hermione, who had been looking for them behind some trees, flinched as the water hit them.

“Harry!” Ron screeched in a surprisingly high pitched voice, ducking for shelter behind Hermione. 

Hermione hit him in response. “Don’t hide behind me!” she shouted, getting out her own water gun in an attempt to retaliate.

“Children!” Molly’s loud voice interrupted them before Hermione could act. “Are you coming in for lunch?”

Ron rolled his eyes, grinning, and held his hand out. “Truce?” he asked. 

“Truce,” Ginny replied, shaking his hand firmly. They both nodded seriously, Hermione shaking her head fondly as she watched.

“Come on,” Harry said, leading the way back up the hill towards the house.

Ginny was quiet, leaning her head on his shoulder as they walked together. Ron and Hermione fell into step beside them.

“I can’t believe these are our last two weeks of holidays,” Ginny said thoughtfully. 

“Ugh, don’t even talk about it,” Ron groaned. He would be starting his traineeship at the Aurors with Harry on the 2nd of September, while Ginny and Hermione went back to Hogwarts to get their NEWTs. He still wasn’t sure if that was even the right decision for his future. Hadn’t they just spent several years fighting a war? Surely he deserved a bit of peace and freedom now? 

Ron resolved not to think of it. 

He noticed his friends were already entering the house, and hurried to catch up. There were still two weeks of freedom left, after all.


	23. You can't give more than yourself

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt number 23: “You can’t give more than yourself.”
> 
> Hermione visits Hagrid's hut to help him prepare for Buckbeak's trial.
> 
> Day 23 of Fictober.

Hermione walked down the steps of the Hogwarts grounds, on her way to Hagrid’s hut, like she had so many times this month. Her pile of books about magical law and the histories of animal trials was heavy in her arms. 

She had spent hours in the library the past weeks, trying to find anything possible to help Buckbeak. And avoid the Common Room, her mind supplied unhelpfully. Hermione frowned. She was refusing to think about that. 

She knocked loudly as she reached Hagrid’s hut.

He opened it a few seconds later. “Hello!” he said, opening the door wider. “Come in!”

She entered the hut, dropping the books onto the table gratefully. Her arms had really been starting to hurt.

“I brought these books with me,” she said, watching as Hagrid walked around the kitchen, getting some tea and rock cakes. “I thought they could be helpful in our case.”

As Hagrid set the plate of cakes down in front of her, she opened the first book and started explaining what she had found out about past Hippogriff trials. Once the tea was ready he set two steaming mugs down and sat across from her, listening intently. 

She talked for about an hour, going through the various books to read passages aloud and explain the chance that Buckbeak had to make it through the trial. 

“Enough about me,” Hagrid said, once they were finished. “How’ve you been lately? Where are Harry and Ron?”

Hermione looked at his open, expectant expression, and started talking. “They won’t talk to me,” she said. “Ron thinks that my cat ate his pet rat, and he refuses to be my friend until I’ve apologised, even though he hated that rat, and Crookshanks didn’t even do anything! And Harry took his side, because he always does, and he got sent a Firebolt by some anonymous person, and I told McGonagall because I thought it might have been from Sirius Black and I was worried, and she took his broom away, and now Harry hates me too!”

She took a deep breath as everything that had been building up inside her this past month came spilling out. She blinked hard to keep the tears from entering her eyes.

“I don’t have anyone to talk to, because the girls in my dorm don’t like me either, and exams are coming up and I know I’m going to fail everything because I haven’t been studying because I was too busy worrying about Harry and Ron, and -” Hermione burst into tears. “I don’t know what to do!” she said through her sobs, hiding her head in her hands. 

Now that she had started crying, she didn’t feel like she could stop again. 

Hagrid patted her on the back, careful not to hurt her, and waited. “There, there,” he murmured now and again. “Let it all out. You just take your time.” 

After what felt like several minutes, Hermione’s sobs quietened down, until she finally sat there with red eyes and the occasional hiccough.

Hagrid handed her a gigantic handkerchief, which she accepted gratefully. She wiped her eyes and took deep breaths to try and calm herself down.

“I’m sorry,” she said, looking down awkwardly. “This was supposed to be about Buckbeak, not me.”

“Don’t you apologise, Hermione,” Hagrid said. “You’ve done so much to help me already. You don’t need to worry about my problems when you’re unhappy too.”

He got up from the table. “Let me make some more tea for us,” he said, walking towards the giant kettle.

Hermione sniffed. “Thanks,” she said quietly.

Once the kettle was boiling, Hagrid set down a large mug in front of her. “There you go,” he said, getting another mug for himself. “Drink up, go on!”

Hermione blew on her tea and tried to take a sip, burning her tongue a little. She let out a little giggle at her stupidity, and Hagrid smiled, eyes twinkling. “Oops, should have warned you,” he said.

They were quiet for a while as she waited for the tea to cool.

“Now, let’s take this one problem at a time,” Hagrid said. “I know you, Hermione, you’re the smartest witch in the school. There’s no way you’re going to fail everything. I’ve never seen you try a spell you couldn’t do.”

Hermione smiled, remembering a similar conversation between her and Hagrid in her second year. 

“And all this stuff with Harry and Ron? Just give it time. Soon enough, they’ll realise how stupid they’re being, worrying about a rat and a broomstick instead of their best friend.”

Hermione laughed, feeling a little better. “You think so?”

“I know they will,” Hagrid said. “You’re a good friend, Hermione. You’ve given them so much. “Hells, look at all this you’ve done for me!” he gestured at the piles of books surrounding them. “But you can’t give more than yourself, Hermione.”

She frowned, taking in what he was saying. 

“You need to take care of yourself, too.” Hagrid smiled, his eyes warm. “Just give it time.”


	24. Patience... is not something I'm known for

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt number 24: “Patience… is not something I’m known for.”
> 
> Neville struggles during a potions lesson.
> 
> Day 24 of Fictober.

Neville’s hands were shaking as he cut the beetles in front of him into a fine powder. He kept throwing nervous glances at the instructions on the blackboard, to make sure he wasn’t doing something wrong. 

This was only his fourth ever potions lesson! How was he supposed to know the difference between the effects of a crushed or a powdered beetle?

Or… was he supposed to know that? He had looked at his books before coming to Hogwarts, but he hadn’t read them or anything. And Seamus had told him that he hadn’t even opened his potions book before the first lesson.

Neville looked around to see how the others were doing. Hermione Granger looked like she knew exactly what she was doing. Dean was just watching Seamus dropping random things into his potion. Ron looked confused too, and Harry Potter - Neville still couldn’t believe he was in the same dorm as Harry Potter - was trying to read the instructions. Neville was relieved that at least he wasn’t the only one struggling.

He held his breath in anticipation as he added the beetle powder to the already steaming potion, half expecting an explosion. Thankfully, nothing happened. 

He squinted at the blackboard, trying to read the next step through the hazy cloud of steam in the air. He thought it said to stir counterclockwise three and a half times. 

Three and a half times? Neville frowned. That didn’t make sense. Half a stir - did that mean starting at the top or the bottom of the circle? Would it even make a difference where he started stirring? He really didn’t want his potion to explode.

Neville nervously glanced at Professor Snape. He wasn’t looking in his direction, busy talking to Malfoy. 

Neville bit his lip. Was he brave enough to raise his hand?

He looked back at Hermione. She seemed nice, from the few times they’d talked. Would she know the answer? She seemed really busy, though. He didn’t want to interrupt her. 

He swallowed, eyes darting back and forth between Hermione and Professor Snape.

He made a snap decision, deciding to take a chance. Neville was a Gryffindor. He could be brave.

Heart pounding in his chest, Neville shakily raised his hand. 

Professor Snape still wasn’t looking in his direction. Hermione was, though. She quickly walked over to him, and whispered: “Do you need help with something?”

He gratefully put his hand back down. “I don’t know what he means by ‘three and a half stirs’,” Neville whispered back, careful to keep his voice down.

“Oh, don’t worry, I was confused too!” Hermione said eagerly. “You basically start at the top of the circle, so the part of the cauldron that’s furthest away from you, and then you start stirring to the left, so counterclockwise, and just count to three and a half.”

Neville nodded as she was talking. That made so much sense. He opened his mouth to thank her, but the words died in this throat as he met Professor Snape’s eyes.

Professor Snape took his time walking over to them. 

Neville was frozen in fear. Couldn’t he please just ignore them? 

No such luck. Professor Snape’s eyes were cold as he said: “Longbottom, Granger. What were you two whispering about?”

Neville and Hermione shared a nervous look. 

“Well?” His voice was cold. “I would appreciate an answer… sometime _ this _year, if possible. Patience… is not something I’m known for.”

Neville swallowed, his body still refusing to move. He braced himself to answer, but thankfully Hermione took over. “Neville just had a question about your instructions, sir. I was just helping him.”

Neville nodded in confirmation as Professor Snape’s eyes flickered over to him.

“And you abandoned your own potion in order to do it?” Hermione opened her mouth to defend herself, but Snape was already continuing. “Two points from Gryffindor, Longbottom, for distracting a classmate. Keep to your own cauldrons in the future.” With that, he turned on his heel and walked back to the group of Slytherins at a different table. 

Neville’s hands were shaking even as the danger was already past. Two points from Gryffindor! What had he done wrong to make Professor Snape hate him like this?

Was he just too stupid to have understood the instructions? Suddenly, Neville wanted to cry. Gritting his teeth, he breathed in through his nose to try and control his shaky breathing. This lesson is almost over, he told himself firmly. Lunch is next, and after that Herbology. Professor Sprout was kind, at least. Sometimes, Neville almost wished he had been sorted into Hufflepuff, just so he could have her as his Head of House. At least he wasn’t in Slytherin, though, Neville thought. He suppressed a giggle at the mental image. 

Merlin, what was wrong with him? Nothing about this was funny.

He turned to Hermione to thank her for the help, but she was already back at her own cauldron, head bent down.

Biting his lip, Neville turned back to his own cauldron and started stirring, counting down the minutes until this lesson was over and he could go to the Great Hall.


	25. I could really eat something

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt number 25: “I could really eat something.”
> 
> Charlie's parents and sister visit him in Romania.
> 
> Day 25 of Fictober.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PS: Happy Asexual Awareness Week! :)  
(I might expand this into a longer story some day, and post it as a separate one-shot. I don't know yet - I just wrote this for now.)

Charlie didn’t ever really get homesick. He supposed he could count himself lucky, in that sense. He had always felt comfortable wherever he was living, whether that was at the Burrow, or at Hogwarts, or at the Dragon Sanctuary.

Still, sometimes he missed his family. 

They had always been very close-knit, growing up in the country with such a big family. He could imagine his mother getting lonely, now that even Ron and Ginny were in school, and Bill and Charlie were both working abroad. 

Charlie tried his best to come home at least once a year, but sometimes it just wasn’t possible. That was why he was even more thankful that his parents were taking the time and money to visit him in Romania for the first time since he started working here, over two years ago.

He smiled fondly, remembering how he had shown his parents and sister around the sanctuary a few hours ago - how shocked his mum had been when he had shown her around the enclosures. She probably hadn’t let herself think about the exact details of his job before that. Still, it had been nice to introduce them to all of his friends and colleagues, and to show Ginny the Welsh Green dragon babies he’d been taking care of for the past few weeks. 

As he finished his nightly routine of checking on all the dragons, he made his way back to his hut. With a bit of effort, he’d managed to squeeze an double bed into his small spare room for his parents to stay for the few days they were visiting. He hoped that was alright for them - with his current salary, he hadn’t been able to afford a hotel room yet. 

He opened the door and smiled as he saw his parents on the sofa, quietly chatting. It was already quite late, and it seemed like Ginny was fast asleep on the mattress on the floor of Charlie’s room.

“Hello, love,” his mum said as he entered the room. 

“Hi,” Charlie said, careful to keep his voice down. He sat down next to them.

“This is a very nice place you have here,” his mum said. “Do you…” she frowned almost imperceptibly. “Do you always work this late?”

“Usually, yeah,” Charlie replied. “I mean that’s the advantage of living right by the sanctuary. I can always check up on them and can come help in an emergency.”

“Hmm,” Mum said, concern in her eyes. “Just make sure you get enough sleep, alright? Careful you don’t overwork yourself. Maybe you could have a little lie in tomorrow?”

Charlie looked away guiltily. “Maybe,” he said hesitantly, already thinking of the list of tasks he had to do tomorrow. It wasn’t like feeding the dragons breakfast was optional - the babies weren’t big enough to be skipping meals yet.

His dad’s eyes were twinkling. “Leave the poor boy alone, Molly,” he said bracingly. “I’m sure Charlie has good control over his sleeping routine. He’s been doing this for a couple of years already, remember?”

Molly tutted in response. “Fine,” she conceded. She looked back at Charlie, considering. “What about outside of work, though? You haven’t told us anything about your life yet. Surely it can’t all be work?”

“No,” Charlie said, laughing a little. His mum knew him too well. Growing up, he’d always been sociable and extraverted, constantly having friends over, and that hadn’t changed at Hogwarts or after leaving school.

“Well?” Molly asked, when it became clear he wasn’t going to elaborate. “Do you go out and spend time with your friends? Are you learning Romanian?” She perked up excitedly as a thought occurred to her. “Do you have a girlfriend?”

Oh.

A lump formed in Charlie’s throat as the dreaded question came. He should have expected it, honestly.

He looked down, frowning a little, and tried to shake off this weird reaction. He blinked hard a couple of times, swallowed, and met his mum’s eyes again. “No, I’m not dating anyone,” he said easily, with what he hoped was a natural looking smile. 

There was a bit of an awkward pause. 

“I am taking Romanian classes though,” he added quickly, hoping to change the subject. 

Thankfully, his mum seemed to accept that answer and turned to his dad, who started asking excited questions about Romanian. Charlie answered them the best that he could - he was nowhere near fluent yet, after all - and breathed a sigh of relief as he forced his heart rate to calm down.

He had known for a long time that he wasn’t interested in anyone in that way. 

He’d had a couple of girlfriends at Hogwarts, because that was just because that was what everyone had been doing. He always broke it off after a couple of weeks. His friends would always be confused, asking him why he wasn’t more sad about the breakups. He’d never known what to say in response. The truth always seemed so cold and heartless: that he’d never actually fancied them. 

It wasn’t until after he’d left school that he’d heard the word asexual for the first time, casually mentioned in conversation, and something in his brain clicked. 

Asexual. 

There was an actual word for it. 

He wasn’t the only one, there were others who felt the exact same way! It felt like everything made sense, all of a sudden, like he understood things that he hadn’t even known he had been wondering about. 

Still, even after he’d heard the label and accepted it, he wasn’t ready to tell people. Especially not his parents - at least, not yet. They were so excited to be grandparents one day. Logically, he knew that they had six other children who could give them grandchildren. He knew that there would be nothing wrong with him being the “cool uncle,” and that his parents would come around to the idea of him never having a romantic partner. 

He still held his tongue. Not yet. Maybe in a few years, when Ginny was grown up. Maybe.

Charlie bit his lip, lost in thought.

Suddenly, he noticed his parents staring at him. He hadn’t even realised they’d moved on from the Romanian language as a conversation topic.

“Are you alright?” Molly asked, head tilted in concern.

Charlie looked at his parents, feeling a rush of affection for them. He really was lucky to have such an amazing family. He would tell them one day, he promised himself. 

But for now, food. 

“I could really eat something,” Charlie said hopefully, smiling shyly.

Molly smiled back, eyes warm. “Come on,” she said, getting up. “I think there’s still some pie left over from dinner.” 


	26. You keep me warm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt number 26: “You keep me warm.”
> 
> Ginny and Harry reconcile after a fight.
> 
> Day 26 of Fictober.

“Ginny! You’re okay!” Harry said as soon as he opened the door, relief flooding through him. 

Ginny was standing there, in the pouring rain, the orange street lights reflecting off her face in the darkness, looking absolutely miserable. 

They both stood there for a moment, unspoken words written on their faces. 

Harry suddenly remembered the rain. And Ginny’s distinct lack of a raincoat. 

“You’re shivering!” Harry said. He quickly stepped aside to let her in. 

Once the door was closed behind her, he immediately pulled her into a tight hug. She hugged him back just as tightly. 

His nervous heart rate still hadn’t calmed down. The couple of hours she’d been gone had felt like an eternity to Harry.

“I’m sorry,” Harry told her.

“I’m sorry,” Ginny said at the same time.

They both laughed a little as they pulled away, meeting each other’s eyes again.

“You first,” Harry said, a soft smile on his face despite the serious situation.

“I shouldn’t have run off like that, without even letting you know where I was going,” Ginny said in a big rush. It seemed like she had been planning this apology for a while. “It was a stupid argument, and I was just angry, and wasn’t thinking straight.”

“I shouldn’t have started arguing with you in the first place,” Harry countered. “You had every right to walk out!”

“No, I didn’t!” Ginny said, frowning. “Not without warning you, first! Do you remember how many people went missing during the war? I can’t even imagine how worried you must have been!”

Harry was quiet. He didn’t want her to know he’d been pacing up and down the corridor for an embarrassingly long time, mentally kicking himself for not having bought them both a cell phone yet.

Ginny looked up, meeting his eyes. “I don’t even remember what we fought about, to be honest,” she said, laughing a little.

Harry grinned at that. They’d only been living together for three months, ever since Ginny had graduated Hogwarts. In every argument they’d had so far, out of the two of them, Ginny was usually the one to hold a grudge the longest. So the fact that  _ she  _ couldn’t remember? It made him happier than he was willing to admit. 

“It was stupid anyway,” he said. She smiled back, eyes soft.

“Do you - do you want a cup of tea?” he asked hesitantly.

“Alright then,” Ginny said, nodding. She walked past him and headed into the kitchen.

As Harry made some tea for the two of them, he noticed Ginny suppress a shiver. Leaving the kettle to boil, he walked over to her. “Do you need a change of clothes?”

She tried to protest that she was fine, but he saw right through that and walked over to the pile of clothes he’d just taken out of the laundry, and got one of his hoodies and a comfortable pair of sweatpants out. 

“Here, they’re still warm from the dryer,” he said.

She rolled her eyes but accepted the clothes. She quickly walked into their bedroom to change while Harry finished making the tea.

A few minutes later, they both sat down on the sofa, sipping their mugs of tea in companionable silence. Once the cups were empty, Harry suddenly noticed how tired he was.

Ginny seemed to have read his mind.

“Can we just sleep here tonight?” she asked, sniffling a little as she stifled a yawn.

Ginny’s feet were tucked up underneath her legs, and she was leaning her head on Harry’s chest. Harry’s arm was wrapped around her shoulder. He honestly didn’t want to move for the next few hours. He nodded against her head, but frowned as a thought occurred to him.

“You’re still freezing, though. There aren’t any blankets here. How are you going to keep warm?”

“You keep me warm,” she murmured softly, burrowing her head deeper into his chest, already half asleep. 

Harry held her even tighter, affection rushing through him. 

They would be okay. 


	27. Can you wait for me?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt number 27: “Can you wait for me?”
> 
> Tonks and Remus just before the Battle of Hogwarts.
> 
> Day 27 of Fictober.

“Remus, what are you doing?” Tonks asked, watching her husband get up and walk toward the door. “You’re not going to Hogwarts, are you?”

“Dora, didn’t you hear what the message said?”

“Yes, I did! And I don’t want you to go out there!” Tonks stood up too, Teddy safely cradled in her arms.

“They need everyone they can get! The battle’s about to start, and there are children there!” He met her eyes, begging her to understand. “I  _ have  _ to go help them.”

“Then I’m coming with you.” Tonks said decisively. She put Teddy down in his crib. “You’re not going up there without me.”

Remus sighed, looking back and forth between her and the door. “And Teddy?” 

“My mother will take care of him while we’re away.” Tonks refused to back down now. She’d always been far too stubborn.

“Dora,” Remus said. His voice was soft. “You need to stay here. We can’t both leave - what if something happens? Do you want Teddy to grow up without his mum?”

“Do  _ you  _ want him to grow up without his dad?” Tonks countered, her voice hard. 

He didn’t reply, his face unreadable.

Her eyes were welling up with angry tears, and she wiped impatiently at her face. “I don’t want you to go,” she repeated desperately.

“I have to,” Remus said, his voice breaking. “I couldn’t live with myself if I stayed here and didn’t help Harry.” 

He kissed her for a long moment, and pulled her into a tight hug. She hugged back just as tightly, keenly aware that this might very well be her last chance. 

“Of course I want Teddy to grow up with his dad,” he murmured. “But I also want him to live in a safe world. I don’t want him to constantly live in fear.”

Tonks was silent. She knew he was right.

“But I need to go to Hogwarts to make sure that happens,” Remus continued. “And when the battle is over, I’ll come back. So… can you wait for me?”

She nodded reluctantly, pulling back to meet his eyes one last time. “Good luck out there,” she said, swallowing harshly. 

Remus hugged her again, kissed Teddy’s forehead, and then he was gone.

Tonks collapsed at the kitchen table, her legs giving out from underneath her. She didn’t move for a very long time.

Remus was fighting. 

Remus was fighting. 

The words repeated in her head like a mantra. She knew him too well to think that she could have ever persuaded him to stay. Not when the final battle was happening. Not when the Order needed his help. when Harry needed his help. He had spent almost his entire life fighting this war, he was never going to give up this close to the end. 

She knew that Remus wouldn’t have been able to live with himself if he hadn’t left. Stupid Gryffindor.

But…

Would she be able to live with herself if she stayed here?

Didn’t she have just as much stake in this war as he did? The war that killed her father, her cousin, her friends? 

At the very least, she could fight alongside her husband, instead of sitting here, uselessly.

Tonks looked at the crib. 

Teddy was sleeping, hair shifting between blue and lavender as he dreamed. She wouldn’t be gone long, anyway. He might even still be asleep by the time she returned.

Tonks made a snap decision, and immediately sent a messenger patronus to her mother to come over and take care of him. 

Then she looked at her son one last time, and walked out the door.


	28. Enough! I've heard enough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt number 28: “Enough! I’ve heard enough.”
> 
> Minerva McGonagall finds out about the swamp in the corridor.
> 
> Day 28 of Fictober.

“Professor McGonagall!“ 

Minerva turned around to see Dennis Creevey running up to her, out of breath. 

“What is it, Mr. Creevey?” she asked, trying her best to look patient.

"There are fireworks everywhere!”

She frowned in confusion, but he continued before she could ask for clarification. 

“They look like the ones the Weasley twins make -"

_Ahh_. That would explain it, she thought, trying not to smile.

"- and there are nifflers running around! No one knows what to do, so I thought I’d look for you. There’s - there’s a swamp in the corridor, Professor!”

Minerva pulled up short, reconsidering what she had just heard. A _ swamp _? How on earth had the Weasley twins managed that?

“Enough!” Minerva said quickly, before he had the chance to keep speaking. Dennis Creevey had barely stopped to take a breath. 

“I’ve heard enough. Thank you for telling me, Mr. Creevey.”

He looked relieved. Beneath all the nervous energy, she thought she could see a spark of exhilaration and excitement in his eyes. Minerva could hardly blame him, to be fair. If she had had that dreadful woman as a teacher when she was a student, she would have been happy about a swamp in the corridor too. To be honest, it wasn't as though she was unhappy about it now.

She saw Dennis still standing there, waiting for a response. “You may go, Mr. Creevey,” she said firmly. “I’ll look into it.”

“Alright, Professor!” he said before running off. 

She shook her head in bemusement. She had always known Fred and George Weasley were extremely talented and gifted wizards, when they put their minds to it, at least. Still… she hadn’t expected this. 

Minerva suppressed a smile, shaking her head fondly, and walked off to look for the swamp and the fireworks. Definitely _ not _in order to put a stop to it, of course. 

Maybe Dolores would want to try cleaning up the mess.

Minerva certainly wouldn’t complain. Actually, she'd love to see that.

The students deserved a bit of a break after the year they’d all had.


	29. I'm doing this for you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt number 29: “I’m doing this for you.”
> 
> Molly finds out about Bill's new job in Egypt.
> 
> Day 29 of Fictober.

“Mum!” Bill shouted, running excitedly into the living room. 

“What’s wrong, love?” Molly asked, putting down the book she’d been reading.

“I got the job! I’m going to Egypt!” He waved a piece of paper around, clutched tightly in his hand.

Molly gasped. “What?” she asked weakly. “Bill! Congratulations!” Her voice gained volume as the news sank in. She jumped up quickly to hug him. “Merlin, this is so exciting! Congratulations!” she repeated, finally letting go. 

“I know!” Bill grinned, looking giddy. “I still can’t believe it.”

“Come on, sit down!” Molly gestured impatiently to the couch. They sat next to each other, still smiling widely. Molly took the piece of paper from him, scanning it before looking back up at her son. “What did they say? When do you have to leave?”

Bill looked down at his feet, uncharacteristically shy. “Um, they said I should be there in two weeks,” he said slowly.

Molly frowned, taken aback. “Oh. Two weeks? But your siblings have only just returned from Hogwarts! Surely you’d be allowed a bit of a summer break?”

“Apparently not,” Bill said. He didn’t look too dejected, though. She could tell he was only just managing to stop himself jumping up and down in excitement. 

“I’m so excited for this, mum,” he told her. “There’ll be four months of on-site training, so I can have time to learn what I’m actually doing, and there’ll be mummies, and pyramids, and cursed tombs,...” 

He looked like he could go on for a while, so Molly quickly interrupted him. “Have you started planning your packing yet? What will you need?”

She got up quickly, keenly aware that she was actively trying to distract herself from the thoughts of what he’d be doing just two short weeks from now. 

“Oh, I’ll just do it next week or something,” he said casually, following her as she walked out of the room. “I still have heaps of time.”

“_Next week?_” she repeated, already halfway up the stairs. “You do realise you’re going to be  _ living  _ there for the next couple of years at least? I know you get a room in a furnished apartment, but you’ll still need more than a couple of days to prepare everything.”

Bill rolled his eyes, but obediently followed her up the stairs. 

Once they were in his room, Molly took charge. “Alright, it’ll be hot in Egypt, especially in summer, so you’ll need suitable clothes. Do you need me to buy you more short sleeved clothes? How many pairs of shoes do you have? Did they say anything about work-appropriate outfits? Is there a dress code?” She opened his wardrobe doors, not even giving him time to answer.

He stopped her very quickly, closing the wardrobe. “What are you doing, Mum? Are you okay?” 

She finally stopped searching around the room to look at him. “What do you mean?” she frowned. “I’m doing this for you.” 

“You don’t have to, though! You know that, right?” 

Molly looked at him questioningly.

“I mean… I can take care of myself,” he continued softly. 

There was a strange expression on her face, a kind of pride, mixed with sadness. “I know you can,” she replied, gently tilting her head to the side. “And you’ll do a great job.”

She took a deep breath, calming down. He  _ would  _ be alright. 

She looked at him again. “You do need to pack, though,” she said firmly, and Bill laughed. 

“Yes, mum,” he said, all but pushing her out the door. “I’ll be fine! You keep reading your book.”

Molly laughed, leaving him to his room. She was being silly, she told herself. She knew he could take care of himself. 

But still… Merlin, this was difficult. She hoped that when her other children moved out, it would be easier.


	30. I'm with you, you know that

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt number 30: "I'm with you, you know that."
> 
> Harry, Ron and Hermione talk a few days after Dumbledore's funeral.
> 
> Day 30 of Fictober.

The next few days after Dumbledore’s funeral were warm and sunny. The weather truly didn’t care about the somber mood of the inhabitants of the castle. All the guests had left after the speeches, and everyone who was left was packing for the summer holidays. 

The day before they were due to leave Hogwarts, Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting in the shade of their favourite tree, talking. 

Harry was feeling strangely emotional, knowing that this was one of the last times he would ever sit here again. He still couldn’t believe he was actually going to leave Hogwarts.

Harry was recapping what had happened in the cave for them, with the lake, the note, the Inferi, everything. Once they had discussed everything, he tried to breach the topic again. 

“You don’t have to come with me,” Harry said for what felt like the hundredth time. 

“Here we go again,” Ron rolled his eyes. 

“Harry -” Hermione interrupted gently. 

”No!” Harry insisted. They’d had this conversation a few times before, but still. He needed them to know. “You need to know what you’re getting into. It’ll be dangerous, and long, and really difficult. We won’t have any idea what we’re doing. Like I said, Dumbledore barely told me anything.”

“We know, Harry,” Hermione said.

“I don’t want you guys to be in danger,” Harry said, not giving up yet. “Genuinely, if you guys think you’d rather stay at Hogwarts, that’s completely fine.”

“I’m with you, you know that,” Ron said firmly.

Hermione nodded, her brown eyes serious. 

They were both sure.

Harry felt a wave of emotion as he looked at his two best friends. He really wasn’t going to be alone on this quest. He had never truly doubted that they would stay by his side even through this, but to hear them actually say it meant a lot. 

He nodded. “Alright.” 

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. This was actually happening. 


	31. Scared, me?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt number 31: “Scared, me?”
> 
> A Halloween party two years after the War.
> 
> Day 31 of Fictober.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last story of the Fictober event. I definitely struggled a bit towards the end of the month, but I'm genuinely so proud of myself for managing to finish all 31 stories in time for Halloween! I had a lot of fun with these tiny fanfics! (I wrote most of them in under an hour, so this was a really good daily challenge for me). Two or three of them actually inspired me to maybe expand them into longer stories in the future? Let's see :)  
Anyway, happy Halloween everyone! Thanks for taking the time to read. <3

The late October air was cold, despite the heaps of blankets they had all brought outside with them. Hermione had supplied everyone with her little bluebell flames in glass jars, and Neville had brought an assortment of hats and scarves, but they were still shivering as they chatted and laughed on their picnic blankets, surrounded by the last remnants of their food.

Suddenly George and Angelina both got up, extinguishing the fairy lights surrounding them with a wave of their wanda. 

“What’s going on?” Harry asked suspiciously.

George held a finger to his lips and Angelina motioned for them all to stand up too.

“Follow me.” George’s face was only illuminated by the light of his Lumos charm. He looked convincingly creepy in the dark.

“What is this?” Hermione rolled her eyes.

“Come,” George deepened his voice to be even more spooky.

They led the group to a small hut behind the Burrow that was decorated with cobwebs and pumpkins. Percy was standing in front of the door, a serious look on his face.

“Is that all of them, Mr Weasley?” he asked.

“Yes, it is, Mr Weasley,” George replied, equally serious. Angelina, standing beside him, saluted formally.

“Very well,” Percy saluted back. He opened the door, revealing a completely dark room. “Enter.”

Casting suspicious looks at the three of them, Harry led the way inside, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Hannah and Luna following him. 

Just as Luna turned to see whether George and Percy would come inside too, the door shut behind them with an audible click.

Hannah immediately tried to open the door, but it was locked.

“Bloody hell!” Ron said, lighting his wand. “We should have expected something like this, honestly.”

“Are we locked in?” Harry asked, swallowing audibly.

No one answered him.

“Are you scared?” Luna asked curiously.

“Scared, me?” Harry tried to laugh it off.

“Yes, you!” Luna giggled lightly, enjoying the uncomfortable look on his face. “You  _ are  _ scared!”

“No, I’m not!” Harry said. He quickly changed the subject. “Has someone tried unlocking it yet?” 

“Alohomora,” said Hermione. Nothing happened. “Thought so,” she muttered. “I guess that would have been too easy.”

There was silence for a few seconds as everyone tried figure out what to do.

“Wait, there’s something here,” Neville said, shining his light at a piece of paper stuck to the wall.

“What does it say?” Hannah asked. 

“‘Turn around’,” Neville read. 

They all turned slowly on the spot. There was a single window on the wall opposite the piece of paper. Harry could hear his own heart beat as he stared at the window, wand ready. 

A white, lifeless porcelain doll appeared, face pressed against the glass.

Hannah, Neville and Hermione shrieked as everyone jumped back in fright. Right into the wall behind them. A wall covered in a mysterious glue-like substance.

“Eww!” Hannah shouted. A mixture of disgust and confusion filled the room as everyone tried to figure out what the hell it was.

“What the hell was that?” Harry voiced all their thoughts.

Once they had all managed to unstick themselves from the wall (Luna and Hermione needing more help because their hair was so long), Ginny tried to scan the area for further danger. 

“Lumos maxima,” a couple of people whispered, but that didn’t help much.

Before they could really start looking around the room for further clues or danger, the door clicked again as it slowly sprung open.

“Guys!” Luna said, a little relieved. “The door’s open!”

They all scrambled to get out of the room, ready to kill George and Perce for planning this. 

George and Percy were nowhere to be found, however. Instead, there was a giant arrow pointing towards the fields surrounding the burrow. Hannah and Neville giggled nervously while Harry and Ron shared a look of resignation. 

“I mean, we might as well follow it,” Hermione said. “It’s not like this could get any worse, right?”

No one seemed reassured by her optimism, but they all agreed and set off to follow the path. Every thirty meters or so, a new arrow appeared, glowing in the dark. 

At the end of the path, there was an empty field with two gigantic boxes standing next to each other. 

The group shared a look, and walked towards the boxes, already expecting the worst. Before they could get too close, however, the boxes opened by themselves, George and Percy jumping out, shouting: “Boo!” 

Hannah screamed again, grabbing Neville’s hand for safety.

They must have asked Angelina to help with their makeup or used really good glamour charms, Harry thought. Their skin was tinged green, with very realistic looking scars on their skin and blood on their clothes.

“Screw you!” Ginny laughed, punching George in the arm.

“Seriously, never do this again,” Hermione told them. Ron nodded emphatically behind her even as he started grinning.

Angelina emerged from behind some bushes, laughing as she gave both George and Percy a high five. She was holding a bottle firewhiskey in her other hand. “Truce?” she offered the bottle to Ginny. 

Ginny rolled her eyes fondly. “Fine,” she said, accepting the bottle. “This whole thing was really impressive, though,” she added, eyes shining. 

“I know, right?” Harry said. “Especially Percy, I never would have expected him to be involved in this!”

Percy heard his name and turned away from his conversation with Neville and Hermione to wink at them, smiling.

“It was really fun,” Luna agreed softly, her eyes looking around at everyone dreamily.

“Come on, then!” Angelina shouted. “Let’s party!”

Her exclamation was met with cheers all around. Everyone began to dance as the music started playing, forgetting about the cold for a little bit. 


End file.
